LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON.  N.  J. 
Presented  by 

Tine  Wiaow  of  G-soroe.  13 

Division  

Section  


.A/37 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/cletails/proceedingsofpitOOnati 


p 


10  ]9?3 


ROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  PITTSBURGH 
CONFERENCE  FOR  GOOD  CITY 


GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  FOURTEENTH 
ANNUAL  MEETING  OF  THE'SjaTIONAL 
MUNICIPAL  LEAGUE 


Held  November  16,  17,  18,  19,  1908 
At  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF,  EDITOR 


NATIONAL  MUNICIPAL  LEAGUE 
1908 


PREFACE 


Each  succeeding  conference  of  the  National  Municipal  League 
represents  a  step  forward;  but  the  Pittsburgh  meeting  repre- 
sented a  somewhat  longer  one  than  usual.  As  at  Providence, 
cooperation  and  coordination  were  the  dominating  notes.  There 
were  two  joint  sessions  with  the  American  Civic  Association, 
which  held  its  annual  meeting  at  the  same  time  as  and  in  close 
juxtaposition  to  the  League.  There  was  also  a  Civic  Exhibit 
which  represented  the  coordination  of  the  work  of  the  Pitts- 
burgh Survey;  the  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research  of  New  York 
through  its  Budget  Exhibit;  the  Committee  on  Congestion  of 
Population  in  New  York;  the  New  York  City  Club;  the  Pitts- 
burgh Bureau  of  Health;  the  Associated  Charities  and  the 
Department  of  Public  Works  of  Pittsburgh;  the  Federation  of 
Churches  and  Christian  Organizations  of  New  York ;  the  Kingsley 
House  Association  and  the  Tuberculosis  League  of  Pittsburgh, 
and  the  Civic  Club  of  Allegheny  County. 

This  Exhibit,  which  was  very  happily  termed  "a  program  of 
visualization  on  civic  problems, "  demonstrated  in  a  most  strik- 
ing manner  what  was  being  done  to  concentrate  before  the 
public  the  facts  of  the  congestion  of  population,  the  reckless 
expenditure  of  municipal  funds,  the  need  for  better  housing  con- 
ditions and  what  is  being  done  to  improve  these  conditions. 
The  results  of  the  highly  important  and  significant  Pittsburgh 
Survey,  conducted  by  the  Publication  Committee  of  Charities 
and  The  Commons,  with  the  cooperation  of  the  Sage  Foundation 
and  the  Pittsburgh  Chamber  of  Commerce,  were  for  the  first 
time  made  public,  and  their  significance  described  by  experts  in 
a  series  of  papers,  which  likewise  dealt  with  their  relations  to 
the  whole  municipal  problem,  as  well  as  to  those  administrative 
and  political  phases  to  which  the  National  Municipal  League 
has  from  the  first  given  chief  place  in  its  consideration. 

(iii) 


iv 


PREFACE 


Another  important  phase  of  the  municipal  problem  was  taken 
up  and  considered  in  a  broad,  comprehensive  and  discriminating 
way  by  a  group  of  men  who  have  given  earnest  and  thoughtful 
attention  to  the  subject,  namely.  The  Relation  of  the  Liquor 
Question  to  the  Municipal  Problem.  The  treatment  of  this 
difficult  and  complicated  phase  of  city  life  was  by  municipal 
experts  from  the  municipal  point  of  view. 

A  suggestive  discussion  was  had  in  the  matter  of  municipal 
health  and  sanitation  by  engineers  and  sanitarians  and  the 
control  of  public  utilities  was  considered  from  the  point  of  view 
of  those  who  have  been  actively  identified  with  the  more  recent 
experiments  of  state  control  in  Massachusetts,  New  York  and 
Wisconsin. 

The  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research  idea  was  thoroughly  ex- 
ploited, not  only  by  officers  of  the  Bureau,  but  by  those  who 
have  been  giving  city  finances  and  budgets  thoughtful  attention 
for  many  years.  The  development  of  interest  in  this  particular 
phase  of  city  work  has  been  most  encouraging  and  most  gratify- 
ing to  the  League  in  view  of  the  very  considerable  amount  of 
study  and  investigation  which  it  has  given  since  1900  to  muni- 
cipal accounting  and  reporting. 

The  old  and  yet  ever  new  question  of  militant  citizenship  came 
in  for  fresh  treatment  at  the  hands  of  those  who  are  actually 
engaged  on  the  firing  line.  No  panaceas  were  offered;  but  a 
very  considerable  amount  of  fresh  experience  was  brought  out 
which  cannot  but  prove  helpful  to  those  who  are  actuallj^ 
engaged  in  putting  into  force  and  effect  the  principles  for  which 
the  League  stands. 

Taken  all  in  all,  the  present  volimie  of  Proceedings  represents 
a  very  important  addition  to  the  literature  on  municipal  improve- 
ment and  will  no  doubt  prove,  as  its  predecessors  already  have, 
r  suggestive  and  helpful  in  a  high  degree. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Proceedings  of  the  Pittsburgh  Meeting 

Municipal  Health  AND  Sanitation   9 

Discussion  by  Dr.  Alexander  C.  Abbott,  Dr.  J.  F.  Edwards, 
M.  N.  Baker,  Dr.  Benjamin  C.  Marsh. 

Pittsburgh  Survey   22 

Discussion  by  Robert  W.  DeForest,  Grosvenor  Atterbury, 
H.  D.  W.  English.  Graham  Taylor  and  Dr.  Edward  T. 
Devine. 

Report  of  the  Executive  Committee,  Horace  E.  Deming, 

Chairman   44 

Municipal  Affairs  and  the  Liquor  Problem   49 

Discussion  by  F.  S.  Spence,  Rev.  Dr.  John  P.  Peters,  Hon. 
Charles  Fisk,  A.  Julius  Freiberg,  James  W.  Houston. 
The  Function  of  Business  Bodies  in  Civic  Work   j3 

Discussion  by  George  Burnham,  Jr.,  Graham  Taylor. 
The  Initiative,  Referendum  and  Recall   75 

Discussion  by  A.  Julius  Freiberg,  Hon.  Ben  B.  Lindsey,  A. 
Leo  Weil. 

Militant  Political  Work  for  Better  Governed  Cities   85 

Discussion  by  Robert  S.  Binkerd,  Dr.  E.  W.  Bemis,  John  C. 
Winston,  Elliott  Hunt  Pendleton,  John  A.  Butler, 
Camillus  G.  Kidder,  A.  R.  Hatton,  Merwin  K.  Hart, 
Robert  T.  Paine,  Jr.,  F.  R.  Boocock. 

The  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research  Idea   122 

Discussion  by  Rufus  E.  Mills  and  Dr.  William  H.  Allen 
City  Club  Conference. 

Civic  Exhibit.  ^ 


Criminal  Law  as  a  Means  to  Give  Effect  to  the  People's  Will 

Hon.  Charles  J.  Bonaparte  137 

American  Municipal  Tendencies  Clinton  Rogers  Woodruff  14S 

Charter  Te>jdencies  in  Recent  Years.  .  .  .Prof.  John  A.  Fairlie  204 
Permanent  Officials  in  Municipal  Government 

Prof.  A .  Lawrence  Lowell  215 

(V) 


vi  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The  Initiative,  Referendum  and  Recall  in  Charter  Reform 

Robert  Treat  Paine,  Jr.  223 

The  Washington  Situation  James  B.  Reynolds  247 

The  Wisconsin  Public  Utilities  Law  Dr.  B.  H.  Meyer  257 

The  New  York  Public  Service  Commissions 

Hon.  Thomas  M.  Osborne  269 
The  Public  Utilities  Commissions  of  Massachusetts 

Joseph.  B.  Eastman  288 

Municipal  Reference  Libraries  Dr.  Horace  E.  Flack  308 

The  City  Library  as  an  Investment  Dr.  Charles  McCarthy  317 

The  Bureau  of  the  Census  as  an  Agent  of  Municipal  Reform 

Hon.  LeGrand  Powers  328 
Municipal  Accounting  as  the  Basis  for  Publicity  of  Municipal 

Affairs  Harvey  S.  Chase  337 

The  Present  Status  of  Instruction  in  Municipal  Government 
IN  THE  Universities  and  Colleges  of  the  United  States. 

Dr.  W.  B.  Munro  348 
Some  Funadmental  Municipal  Needs  in  Pennsylvania 

Hon.  George  W .  Guthrie.  367 

The  Work  of  Boards  of  Health  George  A.  Soper,  Ph.D.  371 

Pittsburgh's  Civic  Problem  Robert  A.  Woods  389 

The  Civic  Responsibility  of  Democracy  in  an  Industrial  Com- 
munity Paul  U.  Kellogg  392 

The  Function  of  Business  Bodies  in  Improving  Civic  Conditions 

H.  D.  W.  English  413 

The  Liquor  Traffic  and  City  Government 

Prof.  Augustus  Raymond  Halt  on  421 

Banquet  Speeches   444 

Committees   467 

Index   471 


FOURTEENTH  ANNUAL  MEETING  OF  THE 
NATIONAL  MUNICIPAL  LEAGUE 


J  AND  THE 

SIXTEENTH  NATIONAL  CONFERENCE 
FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

HELD  AT 

PITTSBURGH,  PENNSYLVANIA, 

IN  CONJUNCTION  WITH  THE 

AMERICAN  CIVIC  ASSOCIATION, 

November  16, 17, 18  and  19, 1908. 


JOINT  MEETING. 

MONDAY  AFTERNOON  SESSION. 

Chamber  of  Commerce,  Motiday,  November  i6,  1908,  3  p.m. 

The  first  session  of  the  convention,  which  was  a  joint  meeting 
with  the  American  Civic  Association,  was  called  to  order  in  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  at  3  p.m.  on  November  16,  by  J.  Horace 
McFarland,  of  Harrisburg,  President  of  the  American  Civic  Asso- 
ciation and  a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Na- 
tional Municipal  League. 

The  Chairman:  The  joint  session  of  the  National  Municipal  League  and 
the  American  Civic  Association  opens  this  afternoon  with  a  welcome  first 
to  be  extended  to  these  organizations  by  your  distinguished  townsman 
and  our  fellow  member,  Mayor  George  W.  Guthrie.  [Applause.] 

Mayor  Guthrie:  Air.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  As  I  have  been 
so  long  connected  with  the  work  of  the  National  Municipal  League,  it 
would  seem  of  becoming  modesty  in  me  to  refrain  somewhat  from  laud- 
atory references  to  its  work.  But  on  an  occasion  of  this  kind  I  feel  that 
I  am  justified  in  speaking  to  you  from  the  citizens  of  Pittsburgh  and  saying 
to  you  what  they  know  of  your  work,  how  much  they  appreciate  what  you 
have  done  in  the  past,  what  your  sacrifices  of  your  personal  convenience 
have  meant  to  you,  and  to  thank  you  in  the  name  of  civic  improvement 


2 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


and  of  humanity  for  what  you  have  done.  The  work  which  has  been  done 
in  the  past  in  calling  public  attention  to  the  deficiencies  in  municipal  gov- 
ernment, to  the  failure  to  meet  those  needs  of  the  people  for  which  civic 
governments  were  established,  of  the  means  to  rectify  these  deficiencies — 
all  these  things  have  been  helpful,  and  we  believe  that  with  the  garnered 
experience  of  the  years  past  you  will  be  able  now  and  in  the  future  to  give 
continual  assistance  in  this  line  of  work. 

There  is  in  the  city  of  Pittsburgh  today  a  living,  powerful  sentiment 
working  for  civic  betterment.    The  people  are  conscious  of  what  they  lack, 
they  have  awakened  to  what  they  can  get,  and  I  believe 
Sentiment  there  is  a  strong  determination  among  them  to  secure 

for  Civic  ^^^^^  administration  has  too  long  been  simply  or 

largely  a  matter  of  political  favor  or  of  disbursements 
Bettennent  more  or  less  recklessly  of  a  certain  sum  of  money  annu- 
ally and  the  distribution  of  favor  and  franchises.  The 
people  know  now  that  that  is  not  the  purpose  of  city  government;  that 
the  true,  just  purpose  of  city  government  is  to  make  the  lives  of  the  people 
in  our  congested  community  safe,  healthy,  happy;  giving  them  an  oppor- 
tunity to  develop  and  to  grow,  and  to  free  and  protect  them  from  those 
evils  which  necessarily  follow  from  great  centers  of  congestion  unless  the 
matter  is  properly  directed  and  controlled  by  city  government.  No 
other  power  is  sufficient.  Individual  effort  is  powerless.  Aggregated 
individual  effort,  unless  backed  by  the  power  of  the  state,  is  helpless  to 
protect  the  people  and  give  them  what  they  ought  to  have.  Believing 
this,  we  welcome  you  here  on  this  occasion.  We  wish  you  continued 
prosperity  and  success  in  your  work.  We  hope  that  your  stay  with  us 
will  be  pleasant,  and  that  it  will  be  what  you  most  earnestly  hope  for, 
beneficial  in  promoting  those  great  objects  for  which  you  have  been  organ- 
ized. 

I  won't  go  through  the  sham  of  extending  to  you  the  liberties  of  the  city. 
You  know  as  I  do,  that  5'ou  come  here  of  right,  as  every  good  citizen  has 

a  right  to  go  to  any  city  in  the  pursuit  of  pleasure  or 
The  Liberties      business,  or  any  other  lawful  purpose,  and  I  therefore 

have  no  patience  with  the  sham  of  imitation  of  an  Old 
of  the  City         World's  custom,  which  has  no  place  with  us.    I  know 

that  you  would  rather  be  here  as  of  right  than  as  of 
favor,  but  I  feel  that  I  can  say  to  you  from  the  people  of  Pittsburgh  that 
you  are  welcome  among  them,  that  their  hearts  and  their  hospitalities 
are  open  to  you,  that  they  are  ready  to  hear  from  you,  and  that  with  all 
their  hearts  they  wish  you  health,  happiness  and  success  in  your  great 
work.  [Applause.] 

The  Chairman:  We  are  the  guests,  not  only  of  the  city  of  Pittsburgh, 
but  of  the  institution  housing  us  at  this  minute,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
and  we  are  now  to  listen  to  some  words  of  welcome  from  Mr.  Lee  S.  Smith, 
its  efficient  president.  [Applause.] 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


3 


Mr.  Smith:  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  Having  been  welcomed  within  the 
borders  of  the  city  of  Pittsburgh  by  our  honored  mayor,  and  having  ob- 
tained no  doubt  the  traditional  key  that  admits  you  through  the  gates, 
and  having  the  password  to  get  through  the  outer  guard,  you  arrive  at  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  rooms — our  home;  on  behalf  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  of  Pittsburgh  I  bid  you  a  hearty  welcome.  I  feel  this  is  emi- 
nently proper  for  more  than  one  reason,  and  also  that  we  do  it  from  the 
same  platform,  because  sometimes  the  Chamber  of 
The  Chamber  Commerce  has  been  credited  with  trying  to  run  the 
,  f.  mayor,  and  sometimes  the  mayor  has  been  credited 

of  Commerce       ..,  /-u    v     t  n 

with  runnmg  the  Chamber  of  Commerce;  so  we  appear 
and  the  Mayor        the  platform  today  to  show  you  we  are  heart  and 

heart  trying  to  do  something  for  Pittsburgh,  and  not 
trying  to  run  each  other  at  all. 

Chambers  of  commerce  in  times  past,  so  history  tells  us,  were  of  a  very 
different  character  from  what  they  are  today.  We  find  the  first  chamber 
of  commerce  was  organized  in  Marseilles,  France,  in  the  early  part  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  and  while  I  am  not  going  into  the  history  of  chambers  of 
commerce  in  any  sense,  I  just  want  to  refer  to  this  one  fact,  that  it  was 
organized  for  the  perpetuation  and  betterment  of  the  business  conditions 
of  those  engaged  in  the  enterprises  of  its  organization.  But  the  chamber 
of  commerce  got  to  meddling  in  state  affairs  to  such  an  extent  that  one 
was  suppressed  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  and  was  not 
restored  until  the  latter  part  of  that  century,  when  they  became  stronger 
than  ever;  so  strong  that  their  example  was  followed  in  Great  Britain 
where  the  first  chamber  of  commerce  was  organized  in  1783.  They  still 
maintained  that  their  duty  was  to  better  the  commercial  conditions  and 
they  adhered  to  that  pretty  closely  and  hewed  very  closely  to  that  line. 
But  I  want  to  say  to  you  (what  you  already  know,  who  know  our  own 
Chamber  of  Commerce)  that  we  have  branched  out  considerably  from  that 
idea  and  most  chambers  of  commerce  have  in  this  modem  day,  realized 
and  recognized  that  men  are  placed  in  this  world  for  something  else 
than  mere  commercialism,  that  there  is  a  responsibility  resting  upon 
them,  placed  there  by  God  either  to  lower  the  world  or  to  raise  it. 
[Applause.] 

And  we  hope  and  trust  that  our  Chamber  of  Commerce  realizes  that  its 
part  is  going  to  be  devoted  to  raising  the  world  a  little  higher  and  making 
it  a  little  better.    And  so  far  as  your  organizations  are 
concerned,  we  are  glad  to  say  that  our  Chamber  has 
The  Chamber     been  trjang  to  work  hand  in  hand  with  the  various 
and  Civic  ideas  and  aims  which  you  have  in  view,  and  there  is 

Conditions  nothing  that  we  desire  more  than  the  benefit  of  our 

home  city's  condition.     From  that  to  the  state,  and 
from  that  on  up  to  the  nation,  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce of  Pittsburgh  will  always  do  its  part,  so  far  as  we  can  see  it.  And 
I  want  to  say  proudly,  that  this  Chamber  furnishes  some  of  the  best 


4 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


workers  that  ever  supported  a  chamber  of  commerce.  They  give  their 
time,  as  you  do,  to  their  work.  They  give  their  brains,  their  intellect,  their 
endeavors  for  the  betterment  of  our  civic  conditions,  and  will  gladly  aid 
you  in  the  work  which  you  are  undertaking  and  carrying  on.  [Applause.] 
There  is  in  old  Westminster  Abbey,  in  the  Poets'  Comer,  an  epitaph  that 
attracted  my  attention  the  first  time  I  was  there  a  good  many  years  ago, 
and  I  have  gone  back  to  it  every  time  I  have  gone  to  that  mausoleum  of 
England's  mighty  dead.  The  epitaph  is  pecuhar  for  two  reasons,  first 
because  of  the  words  inscribed  on  that  tablet,  and  second  because  of  the 
fact  that  the  man  who  lies  beneath  the  stone  wrote  the  epitaph  for  his  own 
tomb.    It  is  the  tomb  of  John  Jay,  poet.    These  are  the  words: 

"This  world  is  a  jest  and  all  things  show  it. 
I  thought  so  once,  but  now  I  know  it." 

Just  hard  by  that  tablet  is  another  erected  to  the  memory  of  the  "Wes- 
leys,  and  on  that  tablet  are  inscribed  those  world-wide  and  never  dying 
words  of  John  Wesley:  "This  world's  my  parish,"  andit  attractedmy 
attention  by  the  wonderful  contrast  between  the  epitaphs  and  the  con- 
clusions of  two  men.  One  recognized  the  world  only  as  a  jest,  whereas 
the  other  concluded  that  God  had  placed  him  here  to  raise  the  world  a 
little  higher  and  to  preach  the  gospel  to  all  mankind  and  make  the  world 
better  because  he  Uved  in  it. 

We  recognize,  as  members  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Pittsburgh, 
that  we  have  got  a  work  to  do,  that  we  are  all  doing  something  for  the 
world,  either  to  make  it  better  or  worse,  and  we  are  trj-ing  to  make  it 
better.  In  other  words,  we  recognize  that  we  are  not  only  building  char- 
acter for  ourselves,  but  reputations  for  our  city,  oiir  state  and  our 
nation.  In  the  language  of  one  who  can  speak  more  beautifully  than  I 
can: 

"We  are  building  slowly  but  surely,  whether  we  will  or  no; 
Building,  while  the  passing  moments  swiftly  come  and  go; 
Structures,  whether  good  or  ijl,  yet  for  all  are  btiilding  still. 
God  grant  that  our  work  may  be  fit  for  an  entemity, 
That  the  Master  Builder  may  say, 
When  shall  come  life's  closing  day. 
Well  done,  thou  hast  wrought  with  care; 
Enter  now  our  joys  to  share. " 

On  behalf  of  the  Pittsburgh  Chamber  of  Commerce,  we  bid  you.  a  hearty 
welcome,  you  and  your  organization.  [Applause.] 

The  Chairman:  The  response  on  behalf  of  the  National  Municipal 
League  to  these  words  of  welcome  will  be  made  by  Horace  E.  Deming, 
Esq.,  Chairman  of  that  organization's  executive  committee.  [Applause.] 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


5 


Mr.  Horace  E.  Deming:  Mr.  Mayor,  Mr.  President  and  representa- 
tives of  our  numerous  other  hosts:  You  extended  to  us  a  most  cordial  invi- 
tation to  come  to  Pittsburgh  and  the  hospitality  of 
Reasons  for  Pittsburgh  is  far  famed.  Those  were  very  persuasive 
the  Pittsburgh  reasons  for  our  coming  and  might  have  been  sufficiently 
Meeting  persuasive  of  themselves;  but  there  were  other  reasons 

also.  In  the  first  place  Pittsburgh  exemplifies,  indeed 
is  a  conspicuous  object  lesson  of,  the  working  of  the  social  and  economic 
forces  that  compel  the  birth  and  the  growth  of  cities.  A  visit  to  Pitts- 
burgh could  not  fail  therefore  to  be  most  attractive  to  the  National  Munici- 
pal League. 

In  the  second  place  Pittsburgh  is  a  typical  American  city,  typical  in  the 
forces  that  created  it,  typical  in  its  rapid  growth  and  in  its  abounding 
material  prosperity,  typical  also  of  the  changes  that  inevitably  take  place 
during  the  conversion  of  a  sparsely  settled  rural  community  into  a  center 
of  commerce  and  industry  and  manufacture  and  exchange.  It  epitomizes 
in  its  own  history  the  evolution  of  every  considerable  American  city  on  the 
continent,  and  in  its  political  experiences  Pittsburgh  has  exhibited  exactly 
the  same  woeful  results  from  unsound  business  and  vicious  political  meth- 
ods as  every  other  American  city.  It  is  in  just  such  cities  as  Pittsburgh 
that  the  application  of  the  principles  of  city  government  advocated  by  the 
National  Municipal  League  is  most  needed;  and  it  is  precisely  in  Pitts- 
burgh that  the  practical  benefits  of  an  earnest  endeavor  to  apply  those 
principles  has  been  demonstrated  again  and  again  during  the  present 
administration  of  your  city.  Our  League  was  therefore  very  glad  indeed 
to  come  to  Pittsburgh. 

Rare  indeed  is  it  that  an  American  city  secures  for  its  mayor  a  man  in 
whom  there  is  such  a  combination  of  high  civic  ideas  and  practical  efifec- 
tiveness  as  you  have  had  in  your  present  mayor.  [Applause.]  We  con- 
gratulate you  citizens  of  Pittsburgh  on  the  recent  marked  improvement 
in  your  city  government,  and  you  will  not  hold  it  against  us  that  the 
National  Municipal  League  has  another  reason,  a  per- 

■»■■  i->  ii.  •  sonal  one,  for  being  glad  to  be  here  just  now.  Your 
Mayor  Guthne  f      r     j        j  ■       i    j  u 

■'  mayor  was  one  of  our  founders  and  is  a  valued  member 

of  our  executive  committee.  We  cannot  help  feeling 
a  strong  personal  interest  in  his  achievements  or  having  a  just  pride  in 
the  triumphant  vindication  of  our  principle. 

So,  gentlemen,  for  these  reasons  and  many  more,  the  National  Municipal 
League  is  in  Pittsburgh.  We  ask  you  to  come  to  our  meetings,  to  lay 
aside  for  a  few  days  your  thoughts  of  your  personal  and  business  selves, 
to  learn  something  of  what  has  been  happening  in  city  government  during 
the  last  year  all  over  this  wide  land  of  ours,  to  find  out  something  about 
the  experiments  that  have  failed  and  the  experiments  that  are  succeeding. 
We  are  endeavoring  to  inform  ourselves  and  to  disseminate  information 
on  this  great  topic  of  city  government — one  of  the  three  or  four  crucial 
problems  to  be  solved  in  this  country,  if  your  grandchildren  and  mine  are 
to  have  a  country. 


6 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


In  response  to  your  welcome,  then,  we  give  you  our  invitation.  Come 
and  hear  us.  Even  if  it  does  bore  you  a  little,  it  may  be  of  some  use  to 
you  after  all.  [Applause.] 

The  Chairman:  As  the  executive  of  the  American  Civic  Association, 
it  falls  to  me  to  acknowledge  these  words  of  welcome  on  behalf  of  that 
institution.  To  you,  Mr.  Mayor,  and  to  you.  President  Smith,  to  the  vari- 
ous constituent  bodies  extending  this  welcome  (not  forgetting  for  a  mo- 
ment the  ladies,  whom  my  predecessors  have  managed  to  forget  so  far) 
we  extend  our  thanks  for  your  hearty  words.  We  recognize  that  this 
welcome  to  us  is  a  significant  welcome,  differing  absolutely  from  the  wel- 
coming words  made  to  many  conventions  coming  here  for  their  own  ends, 
finding  in  your  city  merely  a  railroad  center,  a  place  in  which  to  eat  and 
to  meet,  to  which  the  perfunctory  key  of  the  city  so  cheerfully  discarded 
by  your  mayor  is  usually  extended. 

This  is  not  a  perfunctory  welcome,  but  I  think  a  recognition  of  the  fact 
that  the  American  Civic  Association  and  National  Municipal  League,  its 
lusty  brother,  come  here  to  do  you  service,  to  discuss  problems  before 
you  of  city  life  and  city  efficiency  which  have  to  do  with  the  life,  the  health, 
the  prosperity  and  the  happiness  of  every  citizen  of  Greater  Pittsburgh. 
Everything  in  the  four  days'  program  which  the  gentleman  who  has  pre- 
ceded me  has  suggested  might  bore  you,  but  which  I  do  not  beheve  will 
bore  you,  has  to  do  with  something  which  would  make  Pittsburgh  a  better 
place  in  which  to  live.  Therefore  I  say,  gentlemen  and  ladies,  we  realize 
that  the  welcome  is  a  different  welcome,  it  is  not  a  perfunctory  welcome. 
We  come  among  you  not  to  be  entertained,  but  to  bring  to  you  the  mes- 
sage of  civic  advance.  That  you  need  this  message 
The  Message  is  evidenced  very  fully  by  what  has  been  said  and  by 
of  Civic  the  further  fact,  by  the  truism  indeed,  that  no  city 

Advance  stands  alone.    Pittsburgh,  no  more  than  any  other 

city,  may  stand  or  fall  by  herself. 

I  venture,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  to  extend  the  hope  that  Pittsburgh  will 
join  the  great  sisterhood  of  cities  whose  ideals  will  be  high,  so  much  higher 
than  present  ideals,  that  the  great  achievements  of  the  present  will  seem 
in  those  days  to  be  but  trifles.  Ideals  having  to  do  with  efficiency  first, 
and  with  the  following  commercial  supremacy  afterwards.  That  this  is 
the  view  held  here  is  obvious,  for  the  words  said  in  our  hearing  by  your 
honored  mayor,  the  man  who  is  making  the  name  of  Pittsburgh  famous 
through  the  country  for  efficiency  in  municipal  administration,  indicate 
a  high  ideal.  He  says  to  you  that  he  is  working  to  make  the  fives  of  the 
people  in  Pittsburgh  happier. 

That  this  point  of  view  is  that  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  whose  guests 
we  are  this  day,  is  indicated  not  only  in  the  eloquent  words  you  have  heard 
from  President  Smith,  but  in  the  language  of  that  significant  report  of 
the  operation  of  this  Chamber  of  Commerce  for  the  year  just  ended,  in 
which  I  find  these  remarkable  words:  "Commercial  supremacy  is  impos- 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


7 


sible  in  a  community  that  lacks  civic  spirit  or  is  indifferent  to  civic  decay. 
Therefore,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  it  seems  that  you  recognize  the  animus 
which  brings  us  here,  and  I  sincerely  hope  that  in  the  days  which  follow 
we  may  do  something  not  only  to  show  you  how  much  we  thank  you  for 
your  welcome,  how  much  we  value  your  kindly  hospitality,  but  that  we 
may  do  something  to  make  you  feel  that  it  has  been  worth  while  for  us 
to  have  been  here. 

We  come  on  a  very  practical  message — both  associations.  I  will  not 
say  as  to  the  aims  of  the  National  Municipal  League,  with  which  you  have 
been  made  acquainted.  The  American  Civic  Association  seeks  very 
definitely  to  make  conditions  better  in  Pittsburgh.  It  is  very  glad  to  see 
some  of  the  landscapes  a  year  or  two  ago  absolutely  invisible,  because 
some  of  the  smoke  has  gone.  It  wants  to  talk  to  you  about  getting  rid  of 
the  rest  of  it,  a  great  economic  and  health-giving  advantage.  It  wants 
to  see  the  civic  heart  of  Pittsburgh's  municipal  display  of  beauty  changed 
from  pale  "blots  to  buildings.  It  wants  to  see  your  narrow,  tortuous  ave- 
nues in  some  way  taken  in  hands  by  a  master  mind  and  made  avenues  of 
beauty,  which  beauty  will  be  immediately  reflected  in  the  efficiency  of 
your  citizens.  It  wants  to  see  your  green  spots,  all  too  few  on  your  city 
map,  multiplied  so  that  the  men  in  the  factories  may  have  a  chance  at 
God's  fresh  air  and  green  grass. 

These  and  many  other  problems  relating  to  the  daily  life  are  those  which 
bring  together  the  men  and  the  women  of  the  American  Civic  Association, 
and  they  are  the  impelling  motives  which  have  caused  you  to  extend  to  us 
the  kindly  welcome  for  which  we  so  heartily  thank  you.  [Applause.] 

The  next  item  on  the  program  is  one  I  want  to  introduce  with  just  one 
word.  If  anyone  on  the  broad  continent  of  America  wants  to  know 
anything  about  any  municipal  or  improvement  problem,  all  he  has  to  do 
is  to  write  at  once  to  Philadelphia,  where  in  the  North  American  Building  is 
a  man  of  marvelous  energy,  even  more  marvelous  memory,  and  yet  more 
marvelous  and  widespread  knowledge,  the  secretary  of  the  National 
Municipal  League,  the  secretary  of  the  American  Civic  Association,  and 
also  its  first  vice-president,  the  head  of  that  commission  in  Philadelphia 
which  is  seeing  to  it  that  a  man  votes  only  once  and  that  where  he  belongs. 
This  man,  Clinton  Rogers  Woodruff,  has  written  seven  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  fifty-six  pages,  representing  lo  per  cent  of  the  municipal 
activity  of  the  past  year,  which  he  will  now  read  to  you.  [Laughter  and 
applause.] 

Mr.  Woodruff:  After  the  introduction  I  feel  like  abandoning  the 
modest  (?)  manuscript  which  I  have  produced  for  the 

Judge 

purpose  of  having  it  printed  in  the  Proceedings.  Taking 
Lindsey's  a  glance  over  this  audience  I  do  not  believe  I  could  do 

Reelection  better  than  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  we 

have  right  here  in  our  midst  a  man  who  by  reason  of 
his  fearless  discharge  of  his  duties  was  unanimously  rejected  by  the  ma- 


8 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


chines  of  the  two  parties  and  as  a  recognition  of  the  right  of  the  public 
to  vote  for  the  man  they  wanted,  offered  himself  as  an  independent  can- 
didate and  who,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  it  was  a  presidential  year, 
beat  both  the  regular  Republican  and  the  regular  Democratic  organiza- 
tions' candidates.  I  refer  to  the  triumphant  victory  of  Judge  Lindsey  of 
Denver.  [Applause.] 

I  feel  also  like  saying  a  word  in  regard  to  the  splendid  work  that  the 
Mayor  of  this  city  is  doing,  work  which  most  of  us  will  not  fully  appreciate 
for  years  to  come,  so  complete,  so  far  reaching  and  so  fundamental  is  it; 
a  man  who  has  kept  his  ante-election  pledges  and  kept  them  seventy 
times  seven;  who  has  made  good  in  the  very  best  sense  of  the  word  by 
carrying  them  out  with  an  eye  single  to  the  public  good  and  with  a  full 
appreciation  of  his  duty  and  obligation  to  the  present  as  well  as  to  the 
future. 

I  wish  that  I  might  have  time  to  go  over  this  audience  and  pick  out 
the  various  men  and  women  that  I  see  here  and  intimate  to  you  some  small 
part  of  their  civic  endeavor.  One  man  whom  I  see  has  not  only  given 
generously  of  his  means,  but  far  more  generously  of  his  splendid  business 
ability,  that  the  parks  of  his  city  might  be  an  ever  present  help  to  the 
large  population  surrounding  them;  I  might  speak  of  the  work  that  has 
been  done  here  in  the  city  of  Pittsburgh  by  Mr.  English  the  former  presi- 
dent of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  who  has  taken  the  splendid  energies 
of  this  organization  and  directed  them  toward  high  and  definite  civic  lines; 
and  the  splendid  work  Mr.  Smith  has  done  in  carrying  on  that  work.  I 
might  go  on  and  in  a  practical  way  illustrate  to  you  by  personal  references 
what  are  the  American  municipal  tendencies  of  the  present  day.  But 
there  are  other  things  that  I  want  to  say,  and  I  am  very  much  afraid  if  I 
permit  myself  to  speak  extemporaneously  I  shall  not  say  them. 

Mr.  Woodruff  then  read  abstracts  of  his  annual  review,  "American 
Municipal  Tendencies,"  which  is  printed  in  full  in  the  Appendix. 

The  Chairman:  Now,  that  we  have  had  this  comprehensive  survey 
of  the  general  situation,  we  need  to  take  up  some  of  the  details  of  the  work 
for  which  we  have  gathered.  The  work  of  boards  of  health  is  of  particu- 
lar importance  and  significance.  We  are  to  have  a  paper  on  that  by  Dr. 
George  A.  Soper,  of  New  York,  Chairman  of  the  Metropolitan  Seweraga 
Commission  of  that  city.  As  Dr.  Soper  is  detained  at  home  by  illness 
Dr.  Alexander  C.  Abbott  will  present  the  paper. 

Dr.  Abbott:  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  At  the  June  meeting  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Municipal  Health  and  Sanitation  held  in  New  York  City,  it  was 
decided  to  authorize  one  of  its  members  to  prepare  a  paper  that  would 
represent  the  joint  views  of  the  committee  and  that  would  offer  certain 
suggestions  along  which  lines  of  improvement  of  public  health  might  be 
projected.  Dr.  Soper  was  good  enough  to  offer  his  services,  and  the  paper 
which  I  shall  read  to  you  has  been  prepared  by  him,  has  been  submitted 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


9 


to  the  committee,  approved  by  each  member  of  the  committee,  and  in  a 
general  way  represents  the  voice  of  that  committee.  There  are,  however, 
several  features  of  this  paper  and  phases  of  the  subject  that  have  been 
touched  upon  that  are  open  to  debate  and  doubtless  will  be  debated  by 
others  as  well  as  members  of  the  committee. 

Dr.  Soper's  paper,  on  "The  Work  of  Boards  of  Health, "  which  was  then 
read  by  Dr.  Abbott  is  printed  in  the  Appendix. 

The  Chairman:  The  paper  which  has  been  read  will  now  be  discussed 
by  Dr.  Abbott. 

Dr.  Abbott:  The  time  remaining  at  our  disposal  admits  of  but  a  brief 
discussion  of  Mr.  Soper's  interesting  paper.  I  shall  restrict  my  remarks, 
therefore,  to  that  phase  of  it  which  appeals  to  me  as  most  important, 
namely,  his  reference  to  the  functions  of  the  boards  of  health,  whether 
the  duties  of  such  boards  should  be  restricted  to  the  application  of  those 
fundamental  safeguards  known  to  prevent  disease,  or  whether  their  efforts 
should  be  extended  so  as  to  include  what  he  refers  to  in  his  paper  as  the 
"aesthetics"  of  public  health. 

I  know  of  no  community  in  which  the  routine  public  health  work  is 
done  as  well  as  it  should  be,  or  as  well  as  those  responsible  for  its  adminis- 
tration would  like  to  see  it.  Until,  therefore,  the  machin- 
.^Sthetics  of  ery  for  the  correct  administration  of  the  elementary 
Public  Health  principles  of  preventive  medicine  is  so  perfected  that 
it  will  practically  run  automatically,  and  will  guarantee 
efficient  safeguards  against  the  commonest  and  most  conspicuous  dangers 
to  health,  I  think  it  would  be  extremely  unwise  to  require  health  authori- 
ties to  extend  their  operations  into  fields  which  may  be  of  but  a  doubtful 
public  health  significance.  In  other  words,  I  would  prefer  to  see  a  few 
important  duties  well  done,  than  many  duties  either  imperfectly  done 
or  not  done  at  all,  except  on  paper. 

I  would  scarcely  regard  it  as  a  function  of  the  board  of  health,  unless 
all  of  its  other  work  is  perfectly  performed,  to  enter  upon  the  control  of 
noises  in  a  big  municipality.  That  question  could  equally  well  be  settled 
by  the  police  department,  and  I  beheve  it  is  the  proper  function  of  that 
department  to  settle  it. 

Again,  I  can  scarcely  regard  it  as  necessary  for  a  board  of  health  to 
take  up  such  a  matter  as  the  smoke  nuisance,  for  when  that  question  is 
approached  from  the  health  standpoint,  a  division  of  opinion  is  sure 
to  arise,  and  my  thought  is  that  if  a  successful  war  is  ever  to  be  waged 
against  the  smoke  nuisance,  it  will  be  more  certainly  victorious  if  the 
health  question  be  left  out  entirely.  There  can  be  no 
The  Smoke  division  of  opinion  on  the  nuisance  maintained  by  an 
Nuisance  atmosphere  charged  with  smoke.    It  is  destructive 

to  property  and  is  in  every  way  unpleasant,  and  there 
would  be  no  dissenters  from  the  declaration  that  smoke  in  the  air  con- 


lO 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


stitutes  a  common  nuisance,  but  if  an  effort  be  made  to  declare  smoke  in 
the  atmosphere  a  nuisance  prejudicial  to  the  public  health  there  will  be 
almost  as  much  testimony  that  smoke  does  not  cause  disease,  as  there 
will  be  that  it  does,  and  little  can  be  accomplished  where  such  division 
of  opinion  exists. 

I  would  put  nothing  in  the  way  of  the  appropriate  extension  of  work 
of  a  properly  organized  and  supported  health  department;  provided,  as  I 
said  above,  their  fundamental  duties  are  performed  in  as  perfect  a  manner 
as  possible,  but  I  would  insist  upon  that  condition  being  fulfilled  before 
the  extension  of  their  functions  and  dissipations  of  their  energies  be 
encouraged. 

Insofar  as  I  am  acquainted  with  the  organization  of  public  health 
work  in  different  municipalities  in  this  country,  I  think  we  will  find  that 
their  work  has  been  pretty  well  cut  out  for  them,  if  detailed  attention  be 
paid  to  the  control  of  contagious  diseases  in  their  manifold  aspects;  if 
the  systematic  inspection  of  children  in  the  public  schools,  together  with 
the  giving  of  help  to  such  children  as  may  be  benefited,  be  conscientiously 
pushed;  if  prompt  abatement  of  conspicuous  nuisances,  generally  admitted 
to  be  prejudicial  to  the  public  health  be  the  watchword,  and  if  the  control 
ofthefoodand  drink  supplies,  and  the  correct  registration  of^vital  statistics 
be  conducted  in  conformity  with  modem  views. 

The  Chairman  :  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  Dr.  Abbott  is  from  Philadelphia. 
I  might  be  pardoned  breaking  in  here  to  say  that  once  having  last  year 
been  a  resident  of  Philadelphia  (involuntarily  because  the  hospital  claimed 
me)  I  could  have  differed  with  the  doctor  as  to  the  effect  of  noise  on  health 
and  until  the  physiologists  have  changed  the  dicta  we  find  in  the  text 
books,  that  the  best  gas  to  breathe  is  a  combination  of  oxygen  and  nitrogen 
and  that  nicotine  and  carbon  added  do  not  improve  it,  I  shall  have  to 
feel  for  myself  that  excessive  smoke  as  well  as  excessive  tobacco  are  both 
inimical  to  real  healthy  conditions  as  well  as  to  real  pleasant  conditions. 

But  I  am  not  in  this  discussion.  Dr.  J.  S.  Edwards,  Superintendent 
Pittsburgh  Board  of  Health,  will  speak  on  the  subject  from  the  Pitts- 
burgh point  of  view,  if  he  is  so  minded.  [Applause.] 

Dr.  Edwards:  The  last  few  years  have  witnessed  a  rapid  advancement  in 
the  work  of  health  boards.  This  is  due  chiefly  to  the  increased  knowledge 
of  the  causation  of  disease,  especially  that  class  of  diseases  coming  under 
the  category  of  "preventable,"  knowledge  based  upon  scientific  facts 
established  in  the  laboratory  by  students  and  workers,  both  public  and 
private.  The  application  of  this  knowledge  to  preventive  medicine  has 
put  the  work  of  health  boards  upon  a  rational  basis,  in  which  obsolete 
traditions  and  quackery  have  no  place. 

Progress  has  been  aided  as  well  by  the  attitude  of  society,  which  is 
organizing  to  fight  preventable  diseases  and  to  correct  those  conditions 
which  tend  toward  physical  deterioration  of  the  race.     No  better  evi- 


i 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


dence  of  this  is  needed  than  the  study  of  the  program  of  this  convention, 
which  gives  a  prominent  place  to  a  consideration  of 
The  Attitude      those  conditions  which  make  for  the  physical  uplift  of 
,  „    .  man.     This  attitude  of  society  opens  up  new  fields  for 

^  the  work  of  the  health  officer,  and  spurs  him  on  to  the 

attainment  of  results  made  possible  by  the  spirit  of 
cooperation.  In  his  work  there  can  be  nothing  of  the  mysterious  or  spec- 
tacular, nor  can  he  surround  himself  with  a  halo  of  convention.  He  must 
take  the  public,  whom  he  serves,  into  his  confidence,  and  demonstrate, 
by  common  sense  methods  and  definite  results,  that  their  confidence  is  not 
misplaced.  Prepared  as  he  should  be  by  his  position  and  its  opportuni- 
ties for  gaining  a  practical  knowledge  of  public  health  matters,  he  becomes 
the  leader  of  the  public  in  the  application  of  the  principles  of  sanitary 
science  and  the  need  for  compliance  with  the  rules  and  regulations  nec- 
cessary  to  carry  them  out.  Were  the  purpose  of  rules  and  regulations 
better  understood,  there  would  be  fewer  violations. 

Violations  of  health  laws  are  frequently  due  to  the  lack  of  knowledge  of 
their  purpose  or  utility.  In  cases  where  violations  are  due  to  indifference 
or  viciousness,  the  only  remedy  is  the  governmental  "big  stick."  To 
put  it  more  concretely — the  public  must  be  taught  such  things  as  the 
principles  of  prevention  of  communicable  diseases,  and  the  need  of  enforc- 
ing the  regulations  governing  their  control;  the  dangers  of  bad  milk  and 
the  necessity  for  measures  directed  toward  its  improvement;  the  danger 
of  impure  water,  of  stream  pollution,  of  bad  housing  conditions  at  home 
and  in  their  places  of  work;  the  necessity  for  eradicating  breeding  places 
for  flies;  the  proper  care  and  feeding  of  infants;  and  the  many  things 
which  concern  their  welfare  as  individuals  and  the  welfare  of  the  state. 
Many,  the  majority,  will  profit  thereby,  applying  the  knowledge  gained 
to  themselves,  and  become  instructors  and  agents  in  bringing  others  into 
line.  It  remains  for  the  health  officer  to  protect  the  willful  and  the 
ignorant  in  spite  of  themselves,  for  the  larger  purpose  of  protecting  others. 
Much  of  the  most  fruitful  work  of  health  boards  lies  in  securing  the 
active  and  continued  efforts  of  private  or  unofficial 
Unofficial  agencies,  thus  enlisting  a  vast  constituency  to  supple- 

ment and  aid  official  work  ere  bringing  them  into 
Agencies  closer  touch  with  the  public.    The  importance  of  this 

is  well  illustrated  in  this  city  by  the  work  of  various 
organization  directe  to  the  improvement  of  municipal  affairs.  Among 
others  may  be  mentioned  the  Allegheny  County  Medical  Society  which, 
through  its  milk  commission,  has  been  carrying  on  a  campaign  of  edu- 
cation for  an  improved  milk  supply — a  movement  carried  on  with  the 
main  object  of  securing  good  milk  for  Pittsburgh,  and  of  supplementing 
the  work  of  the  health  bureau; 

By  the  work  of  the  Civic  Club  and  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  in 
educational  and  constructive  measures  having  for  their  object  the  improv- 
ing of  housing  conditions  in  the  city; 


12 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


By  the  work  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  in  holding  a  dairy  and 
milk  contest  for  producers,  bringing  them  to  a  better  practical  under- 
standing of  the  necessity  for  the  adoption  of  improved  methods  of  han- 
dling milk,  through  a  frank  discussion  of  the  question  with  expert  author- 
ities; 

By  the  work  of  the  Tuberculosis  League  and  of  the  State  Tuberculosis 
Dispensary  in  the  prevention  of  tuberculosis; 

By  the  work  of  agencies  outside  of  the  city,  but  working  harmoniously 
with  its  best  interests; 

By  the  Pittsburgh  Survey,  whose  work  has  made  for  sociological 
advancement;  and 

By  the  Typhoid  Commission,  made  possible  by  the  Russell  Sage  Fund, 
working  not  only  to  find  out  the  causes  which  produce  typhoid  in  this 
city,  but  also  to  advance  the  fund  of  general  knowledge  as  to  the  etiology 
of  this  disease  and  its  relation  to  social  and  industrial  conditions. 

The  education  of  the  public  in  sanitary  matters,  and  the  cooperation  of 
all  social  organizations,  public  and  private,  with  the  health  officer  is 
essential  to  progress.  But  in  bringing  this  about,  the 
Spectacular  everyday  duties  and  routine  of  administration  must 
^         .  not  be  neglected,  but  must  be  regulated  from  a  busi- 

"    f  ness  and  commonsense  point  of  view.    Spectacular  or 

Ineffective  sensational  short-lived  campaigns  will  not  accomplish 

much  if  they  are  not  followed  by  sustained  and  sys- 
tematic effort.  On  the  other  hand,  those  not  in  touch  with  adminis- 
trative difficulties  frequently  become  impatient  of  results. 

The  idealist  and  theorist  in  sanitary  matters  may  point  out  the  way 
and  suggest  lines  of  progress,  but  the  real  and  lasting  results  are  accom- 
plished by  the  practical  sanitarian,  who  in  his  ofificial  capacity  presses 
onward,  marking  his  advance  by  prejudices  removed  and  administrative 
difficulties  and  limitations  overcome. 

The  essential  function  of  health  work  is  the  prevention  of  disease,  more 
especially  that  class  which  is  known  to  be  communicable.  The  impor- 
tance of  this  has  long  been  recognized  everywhere,  especially  for  the  sub- 
class of  so-called  contagious  diseases.  Recently  other  diseases,  notably 
tuberculosis,  have  been  added  to  the  category  of  those  coming  under 
administrative  control. 

In  measures  of  quarantine,  isolation  and  disinfection,  efficiency  depends 
to  a  great  extent  upon  the  intelligence  and  cooperation  of  the  public,  and 
still  more  upon  the  medical  profession.  In  order  to  secure  this,  the 
rules  and  regulations  governing  these  measures  must  be  based  upon 
scientific  knowledge,  and  the  natural  history  of  the  disease  to  which  they 
apply.  The  non-essentials  must  be  eliminated.  Interference  with  the 
wage-earners'  means  of  livelihood  and  with  school  attendance  must  be 
minimized  as  much  as  possible,  compatible  with  the  safety  of  the  public. 
Unnecessarily  stringent  rules  and  regulations  often  defeat  the  very  pur- 
pose for  which  they  are  intended  by  putting  a  premium  on  the  non-report- 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT  13 

ing  of  cases  by  physicians,  and  the  concealing  of  contagious  diseases  by  the 
family.  On  the  other  hand,  where  the  preventive  measures  employed  are 
based  upon  practical  utility,  there  are  no  other  rules  and  regulations  more 
necessary  of  enforcement.  In  the  control  of  epidemics,  the  "big  stick" 
must  be  used  if  needs  be — the  policy  of  laissez  faire  has  no  justification 
when  the  health  of  the  community  is  endangered. 

It  is  impossible  to  discuss  all  the  various  lines  of  work  of  boards  of 
health  within  the  limits  of  this  discussion.  The  points  especially  to  be 
emphasized  are: 

First,  the  necessity  for  basing  all  health  work  upon  scientific  knowledge, 
and  applying  this  knowledge  in  a  practicable  way,  and 

Second,  the  education  of  the  public  in  sanitary  affairs,  in  order  that 
a  spirit  of  cooperation  and  of  appreciation  of  public  health  work  may  be 
brought  about. 

For  the  latter,  official  health  boards  can  not  alone  be  responsible, nor 
is  it  the  only  agency.  The  medical  profession,  beginning  with  its  national 
association,  is  organizing  a  system  of  public  instruction, 
Education  which   it  is  planned  to  reach  every  community, 

through  public  meetings,  conventions,  and  the  public 
of  the  Public  press.  Lay  organizations  also  are  organizing  in  the 
interest  of  public  health,  and  are  a  medium  for  the 
dissemination  of  sanitary  knowledge. 

Hygiene  should  be  taught  in  our  public  schools  by  men  having  a  practi- 
cal knowledge  of  the  subject.  If  this  were  done  in  a  practical,  convincing 
way,  the  youth  who  will  be  the  men  and  women  of  tomorrow  would  go 
out  into  the  world  with  a  practical  knowledge  of  how  to  avoid  preventable 
diseases,  and  of  right  living. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  paper  read  by  Dr.  Abbott  mention  was  made  of 
the  necessity  of  establishing  schools  and  colleges  to  give  advanced  instruc- 
tions in  the  matter  of  a  sanitary  science.  That  has  been  done  in  a  number 
of  schools  throughout  the  United  States,  and  I  am  very  glad  to  say  that 
within  the  present  year  both  the  leading  Pittsburgh  schools,  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pittsburgh  and  the  Carnegie  Technical  Institute  have  adopted 
just  such  courses.  [Applause.] 

Mr.  Chairman:  Mr.  M.  N.  Baker,'  one  of  the  editors  of  Engineering 
News,  New  York  City,  and  a  member  of  the  National  Municipal  League's 
executive  committee  as  also  of  its  Committee  on  Municipal  Health  and 
Sanitation,  has  been  prevented  by  illness  from  attending,  but  sends  the 
following  discussion  of  Dr.  Soper's  Report. 

Dr.  Benjamin  C.  Marsh  of  New  York,  Secretary  of  the  Committee  on 
the  Congested  Population  of  New  York,  is  also  on  the  program,  but  his 
duties  at  the  Civic  Exhibit  prevent  his  presenting  the  paper  in  person. 
It  will  be  included,  however,  as  a  part  of  the  proceedings. 


>  Mr.  Baker  is  also  President  of  the  Montdair  (N.  J.)  Board  of  Health. 


14 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


Mr.  Baker:  The  multifarious  duties  of  boards  of  health  have  been 
made  evident  by  Dr.  Soper's  excellent  review  of  the  subject.  Of  the 
many  questions  which  the  paper  raises  for  discussion  two  major  ones 
present  themselves:  (i)  Just  what  is  the  proper  field  of  health  board 
work,  and  (2)  how  should  that  field  be  divided  between  the  city  or  town, 
the  state  and  the  nation.  The  first  of  these  questions 
Board  of  Dr.   Soper  has  perhaps  answered  as  fully  as  the 

Health  Work      present  occasion  demands.    The  work  of  boards  of 
,j  ,  health  should  be  essentially  health  protective.  This 

Snould  be  .  ^  -u       -u  ■         ^  -j- 

statement  may  seem  to  be  so  obvious  as  to  be  ridicu- 

Health  lous,  but  the  author  has  ably  shown  that  much  health 

Protective  board  work  in  the  past  and  no  little  such  work  at 

present  has  no  direct  relation  to  health.     This  has 

been  and  is  due  to  a  general  misconception  of  what  public  health  work 

involves. 

As  to  the  involves  proper  division  of  the  field  between  the  locality,  the 
state,  and  the  nation— and  it  is  around  this  question  that  I  should  like  to 
see  most  of  the  discussion  center — it  is  obvious  that  upon  local  boards  of 
health  should  fall  nearly  all  the  labor  of  preventing  the  spread  of  disease  in 
specific  localities  and  of  doing  what  can  be  done  at  present  to  promote  the 
general  health  of  the  public.  In  the  daily  routine  of  health-protective  work 
in  a  community  the  state  should  interfere  only  in  some  dire  emergency,  as 
when  an  epidemic  has  got  beyond  the  control  of  a  local  board — a  state  of 
affairs  which  will  rarely  if  ever  arise  where  an  efficient  local  board  of 
health  exists. 

The  chief  functions  of  state  boards  of  health,  as  regards  specific  localities 
should  be  of  an  advisory  and  regulative  or  supervisory 
Functions  character.    Questions    arising    infrequently    in  any 

of  State  given  community,  and  particularly  in  the  smaller 

Boards  towns,  may  readily  be  answered  by  the  state  board. 

The  state  board  should  also  establish  standards  of 
practice  and  efficiency  to  which  it  should  have  the  power  to  hold  the 
local  boards. 

A  somewhat  different  but  very  important  function  of  state  boards  of 
health  is  control  of  the  design  and  operation  of  public  works,  the  improper 
design  and  operation  of  which  would  menace  the  health  and  life  of  a 
whole  community  or  perhaps  of  many  cities  and  towns.  Public  water 
supplies  and  sewerage  systems  fall  in  this  class.  Even  those  who  would 
object  to  state  interference  with  the  water  supply  of  a  single  community 
would  agree  to  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  central  control  where  the 
sewage  of  one  city  might  infect  the  water  supply  of  another  city  and  give 
rise  to  a  typhoid  epidemic  there,  as  has  so  frequently  happened  in  this 
country.  It  should  be  remembered  that  in  these  days  of  free  movement 
of  population  the  water  supply  of  any  given  community  may  be  a  menace 
to  the  lives  of  citizens  of  many  other  places,  as  they  come  and  go  in  their 
travels.    Thus  the  water  supply  of  Pittsburgh,  now  purified  by  a  modem 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


filtration  plant,  was  for  many  years  a  most  efficient  agent  for  the  spread 
of  typhoid  fever  over  the  whole  country.  The  time  may  yet  come  when 
such  a  condition  will  be  considered  a  fit  subject  for  national  interference. 

Analogous  in  some  respects  to  water  supplies  and  sewage  disposal, 
and  like  them  fit  subjects  for  state  supervision,  is  the  public  milk  supply. 
This  is  particularly  true  of  dairying  sections  from  which  milk  is  shipped 
to  many  different  communities,  or  perhaps  to  several  states. 

Vital  statistics  have  been  characterized  as  the  very  basis  of  all  public 
health-protective  work  and  have  been  properly  recognized  by  Dr.  Soper. 
Their  collection,  compilation  and  circulation  can  be  best  done  by  the 
state  board  of  health  and  rarely  will  be  properly  done  by  any  other 
state  agency,  such  as  the  secretary  of  state.  Primarily,  however,  the 
recording  and  reporting  of  vital  statistics  rests  upon  the  several  communi- 
ties. Here,  also,  the  local  board  of  health  is  the  only  proper  body  to 
undertake  the  task,  and  here,  if  anywhere,  there  should  be  rigid  supervision, 
by  the  state  board  of  health  to  see  that  the  records  are  complete. 

We  come  next  to  the  place  of  the  national  government  in  health-pro- 
tective work.  Under  our  scheme  of  government,  where  the  nation  has 
only  such  powers  as  were  delegated  to  it  by  the  several  states  long  before 
health  board  work  was  thought  of,  what  remains  for 
The  Place  ^j^g  general  government  to  do  after  local  and  state 

of  the  boards  of  health  have  exercised  their  functions?  If 

National  our  general  government  stood  in  the  same  relation 

Government  ^°  several  states  as  do  the  states  themselves  to 
the  communities  composing  them  the  answer  would 
be  obvious.  And,  too,  there  would  be  plenty  of  work  for  a  national 
bureau  of  health,  for  but  a  few  of  our  states  have  yet  made  any  approach 
to  efficient  public  health  administration.  As  the  case  now  stands,  how- 
ever, the  chief  health-protective  functions  of  the  national  government 
seem  to  be  educational  and  of  an  interstate  regulative  character.  The 
protection  of  interstate  waters  from  pollution,  the  sanitary  supervision 
of  foods  and  drinks  passing  from  one  state  to  another,  quarantine,  and 
like  matters  fall  properly  within  the  scope  of  the  national  government. 
Interstate  milk  supplies  in  particular,  as  has  been  suggested  already, 
afford  ample  scope  for  a  national  health  bureau. 

The  possible  educational  work  of  the  general  government  (and  the 
same  is  true  of  the  state  governments)  includes  as  a  partial  basis  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  experimentation  which  is  beyond  the  powers  of  local 
boards  of  health  and  which,  if  done  by  a  central  body  or  bodies,  would 
save  much  useless  duplication. 

If  we  turn  to  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  we  can 
find  plenty  of  examples  of  the  educational  and  experimental  work  that 
might  be  done  by  a  national  health  bureau.  The  numerous  studies  and 
pamphlets  on  the  diseases  of  plants  and  animals  made  and  published  by 
the  Department  of  Agriculture  could  easily  and  profitably  be  duplicated 
with  proper  modifications,  in  the  interests  of  human  instead  of  plant 


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PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


and  animal  life.  Latterly  the  reorganized  United  States  Public  Health 
and  Marine  Hospital  Service  has  done  considerable  valuable  work  along 
this  line. 

It  is  an  open  question  how  far  a  national  health  bureau  should  go  in 
making  strictly  local  investigations  and  in  helping  suppress  local  out- 
breaks of  disease.  Its  recent  highly  efficient  work  on  yellow  fever  at 
New  Orleans  and  elsewhere  was  of  course  justified  because  of  the  inter- 
state relations  involved.  Its  notable  investigation  of  typhoid  fever  at 
Washington,  D.  C,  was  also  obviously  justifiable,  since  it  dealt  with  the 
very  seat  of  our  national  government. 

The  Washington  typhoid  study  suggests  that  other  investigations  relat- 
ing to  the  public  health  might  be  profitably  conducted  in  the  District  of 
Columbia. 

Although  not  health  board  work,  why  could  not  our  general  government 
make  up  some  of  the  deficiencies  in  health-educational  facilities  mentioned 
by  Dr.  Soper,  and  so  obvious  to  every  student  of  public  health  questions, 
by  providing  or  aiding  schools  of  public  health  ?  For  years  past  the  United 
States  has  made  large  annual  appropriations  to  the  state  agricultural 
schools.  Why  not  do  the  same  for  state  health  schools?  Why  not 
have  state  health  experiment  stations,  also,  as  well  as  state  agricultural 
experiment  stations,  the  health  schools  and  health  experiment  stations 
cooperating  and  a  national  bureau  of  health  serving  as  a  clearing  house  for 
the  information  thus  gained,  as  well  as  a  distributer  of  vital  statistics 
and  other  data  relating  to  the  public  health  of  each  and  all  the  states  of 
the  Union? 

Finally,  is  it  not  apparent  that  this  whole  question  of  the  work  of  boards 
of  health,  and  of  the  relations  between  national,  state,  and  local  health- 
protective  work,  demands  as  careful  study  by  the  National  Municipal 
League  as  was  put  by  it  upon  its  Mvmicipal  Program  and  as  has  been  and 
is  being  put  forth  on  municipal  accounts  and  reports? 

The  Chairman:  Mr.  Marsh  is  doing  work  in  connection  with  the  won- 
derful exhibit  at  the  Carnegie  Institute,  and  his  part  of  the  program  this 
afternoon  is  in  getting  that  into  better  shape  for  you,  but  we  have  his  paper 
and  it  is  presented  herewith. 

Dr.  Marsh  :  One  is  forced  to  admit  the  claim  of  Dr.  Soper  that  there  has 
been  a  good  deal  of  charlatanism  in  claiming  certain  authority  for  boards  of 
health.  It  is  equally  true,  however,  that  the  improvement 
Opportunity  Qf  social  conditions  in  our  great  cities,  particularly, 
for  Construe-  which  we  all  recognize  as  necessary,  can  best  be  achieved 
live  Effort  basis  of  health  measures.     Often,  in  fact,  super- 

vision can  be  exercised  by  the  board  of  health  which 
could  not  be  exercised  by  any  other  authority,  and  this  is  a  department 
of  the  municipal  government  with  which  the  interference  of  politics  is 
most  resented,  and,  therefore,  probably  presents  the  best  opportimity 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


17 


for  constructive  effort  and  the  greatest  freedom  from  the  blight  of  political 
interference. 

I  shall  advocate  certain  rights  and  duties  of  the  board  of  health  which 
may  be  regarded  perhaps  as  radical,  but  it  will  be  perfectly  apparent 
that  no  measure  is  advocated,  the  failure  to  make  provision  for  which 
will  not  demand  the  attention  of  some  other  department  of  the  govern- 
ment, usually  when  it  is  too  late  for  their  effort  to  be  of  much  avail.  In 
our  policy  of  municipal  government  we  adopt,  to  an  alarming  extent,  the 
theory  of  laissez  faire  which,  when  applied  to  social  well-being,  usually 
means  "  Don't  do  anything  until  it  is  too  late  to  do  it  and  then  do  it  with 
all  your  might."  The  preventive  scope  of  action  of  the  boards  of  health 
are  generally,  however,  recognized. 

There  has  been  an  earnest  discussion  in  England  as  to  whether  the  med- 
ical inspection  of  the  childrerjin  schools  should  be  conducted  by  the  board 
of  education  or  the  board  of  health,  and  the  point  has  been  well  made  that, 
since  the  board  of  health  is  charged  with  conserving  the  health  of  all  mem- 
bers of  the  family,  since  it  is  responsible  for  the  health  of  the  children  under 
school  age  and  the  health  of  the  children  over  school 
Medical  age,  it  is  appropriate  that  the  physical  examination 

Inspection  of  should  be  conducted  by  the  officers  of  the  board  of 
Children  health,  working  at  least  in  very  close  conjunction  with 

the  authorities  of  the  board  of  education. 

The  board  of  health  should,  however,  make  a  physical  examination  of  every 
child  over  six  months  of  age  at  least  once  a  year. 

This  may,  perhaps,  be  regarded  as  an  alarming  innovation  for  boards 
of  health,  but  the  necessity  for  such  examination  is  constantly  apparent 
to  those  who  have  made  any  careful  study  of  the  actual  physical  defects 
among  young  children.  Whether  this  function  of  the  board  of  health 
should  be  classified  under  the  second  main  branch  of  public  health  work, 
the  suppression  of  communicable  diseases,  or  the  third  main  branch  of 
public  health,  the  abatement  of  nuisances,  to  which  Dr.  Soper  refers,  is  a 
question  depending  upon  one's  point  of  view  of  what  constitutes  a  nuisance. 

The  writer  in  several  years'  experience  in  one  of  the  child  saving  agen- 
cies in  this  state  frequently  had  occasion  to  notice  the  physical  defects 
of  children  under  school  age  and  the  statistics  of  their  defects  is  a  trenchant 
indictment  of  our  indifference  to  the  physical  welfare  of  children  until  we 
get  ready  to  herd  them  into  school  rooms. 

The  relation  of  boards  of  health  to  housing  inspection  is  another  prob- 
lem deserving  of  careful  consideration.  The  most  careful  supervision  of 
the  living  conditions  of  people  in  the  world  is  probably  that  exercised  in 
Liverpool,  England,  and  in  two  or  three  German  cities,  notably  Mannheim 
and  Munich.  In  Liverpool  an  inspection  is  made  at 
Housing  night  by  two  officers  of  the  board  of  health  to  see  that 

Inspection  there  is  no  overcrowding  or  mixing  of  sexes  above  a 

certain  age  in  the  tenements  of  the  city  and  in  the 
poorer  sections.    Such  supervision  probably  would  not  be  permitted  in 


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PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


America  by  any  other  authority  than  that  of  the  board  of  health,  and  that 
upon  the  basis  of  conserving  public  health.  Without  such  supervision, 
however,  our  laws  regarding  the  number  of  cubic  feet  required  for  each 
occupant  are  dead  letters.  It  further  is  a  question  whether,  except  in 
a  few  large  cities,  the  inspection  of  tenements  might  not  wisely  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  health  department.  In  New  York,  a  movement  is  now  being 
initiated  to  combine  the  building  department  and  the  tenement  house 
department. 

Admittedly  the  enormity  of  the  area  and  the  population  in  New  York 
makes  it  extremely  difficult  to  effect  such  a  combination  of  the  health 
department  and  the  tenement  house  department,  but  the  failure  to  inspect 
carefully  one  and  two  family  dwellings,  which  should  house,  in  most  Amer- 
ican cities,  the  largest  proportion  of  the  population  is  disastrous  in  its  con- 
sequences and  it  is  imperative  that  the  same  careful  supervision  be  exer- 
cised over  all  dwellings. 

In  conclusion  boards  of  health  have  a  most  important  duty  to  secure  the 
demolition  of  unsanitary  tenements  and  areas.  Among  the  lasting  dis- 
graces of  our  American  cities  are  the  perpetuation  of  unsanitary  areas 
and  death  traps  which  we  euphemistically  call  "taxpayers,"  although 
they  are  really  murder  pests.  The  board  of  health  should  have  much 
more  extensive  authorities  to  enforce  the  demolition  of  such  areas. 

It  will  be  apparent  that  I  would  not  in  any  way  restrict,  as  seems  to  be 
the  tendency  of  Dr  Soper,  the  functions  of  the  department  of  boards  of 
health,  but  would  greatly  increase  their  scope  of  preventive  effort. 

Concluding  Remarks  of  Dr.  Soper  Several  interesting  matters  have, 
been  dwelt  upon  by  the  gentlemen  who  have  contributed  to  this  discus- 
sion and  a  few  remarks  concerning  the  points  raised  may  profitably  be 
made  in  conclusion. 

Dr.  Abbott  has  forcibly  emphasized  the  desirability  of  covering  well 
the  essential  work  which  boards  of  health  must  do  to  prevent  disease  and 
has  well  said  that  all  other  work  must  be  made  subsidiary  to  this.  Such 
undertakings  as  the  prevention  of  unnecessary  noise  and  smoke,  impor- 
tant though  work  of  this  kind  is,  should  not  be  done  by  boards  of  health 
at  all,  or,  at  least,  not  until  the  safeguards  raised  against  the  commonest 
and  most  conspicuous  dangers  to  health  have  been  made  efficient.  It  is 
unwise  to  require  health  authorities  to  extend  their  operations  into 
fields  of  doubtful  health  significance,  and  they  should  be  slow  to  accept 
such  duties.  Many  common  nuisances  are  as  cer- 
Dr.  Soper's  tainly  preventable  through  the  operation  of  other 
Sununing  Up  agencies,  as,  for  example,  the  police  department,  as 
through  a  public  health  bureau.  This  view  appears 
to  the  author  of  the  paper  to  be  eminently  sane  and  worthy  of  acceptance 
as  a  principle  of  governing  importance  in  public  health  administration. 

Dr.  Edwards  has  drawn  attention  to  the  increasingly  favorable  atti- 
tude of  society  toward  public  health  work  and  has  pointed  out  that  it  is 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


19 


desirable  to  carry  on  the  campaign  against  disease  in  a  quiet  as  well  as 
efficient  manner.  He  well  says  that  nothing  of  the  mysterious  or  spec- 
tacular should  attach  to  public  health  work.  He  rightly  considers  that 
the  day  for  dramatic  action  is  past,  together  with  the  foolish  superstitions 
with  which  disease  was  once  regarded. 

Dr.  Edwards  is  one  of  those  who  consider  that  the  public  should  be 
taken  into  the  confidence  of  health  officers  to  a  considerable  extent.  The 
health  authority  should,  he  thinks,  be  a  leader  of  public  opinion  and 
should  be  capable  of  imparting  much  genuine  instruction  of  a  sanitary 
nature.  He  rightly  says  that  much  of  the  evils  which  public  health 
authorities  are  created  to  correct  are  due  to  ignorance,  not  wilfulness, 
and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  health  officials  to  dispel  this  ignorance  by  teach- 
ing the  public  the  principles  and  methods  of  preventing  disease.  Nat- 
urally Dr.  Edwards  lays  considerable  emphasis  upon  the  value  of  unof- 
ficial agencies  in  assisting  public  health  authorities  in  preventing  the 
transmission  of  disease.  No  better  illustration  could  be  given  of  the 
effectiveness  of  such  cooperation  than  the  work  which  is  being  done  in 
Pittsburgh  to  assist  the  efforts  which  Dr.  Edwards  is  making  in  his  official 
capacity  as  head  of  the  health  bureau. 

As  to  the  wisdom  of  boards  of  health  sharing  with  the  public  the  duty 
of  investigating  and  eliminating  the  causes  of  disease  much,  doubtless, 
might  be  said  on  both  sides,  but  the  opinion  of  the  author  of  this  paper 
is  that  active  work  of  this  kind  should  be  done  by  the  legally  constituted 
health  authorities  and  not  by  private  citizens  or  societies.  In  so  far  as 
the  work  is  of  a  practical  sociological  nature  intended  to  raise  the  stand- 
ards of  living  for  moral  and  religious  reasons  as  well  as  for  health  pur- 
poses, philanthropic  societies  and  other  associations  of  laymen  may 
properly  employ  their  energies  for  the  public  welfare,  but  where  the 
question  at  issue  is  only,  or  chiefly,  one  of  health,  the  health  authority 
should  in  the  author's  view  be  in  supreme  and  undivided  possession  of 
the  field.  In  case  the  health  authority  is  not  capable,  through  want  of 
knowledge  or  equipment  to  do  the  health  work  of  a  city  the  health  depart- 
ment should  be  reorganized.  If,  as  Dr.  Abbott  says,  it  is  the  first  duty 
of  a  health  department  to  attend  to  those  questions  which  most  certainly 
and  directly  affect  health  it  is  no  less  clear,  in  the  opinion  of  the  author 
of  this  paper,  that  the  health  department  should  do  all  of  this  kind  of 
work  which  may  be  necessary. 

Mr.  Baker  chooses  for  his  chief  consideration  two  points:  What  is  the 
proper  field  of  health  board  work,  and,  How  should  that  field  be  divided 
between  town,  city,  state  and  nation?  Mr.  Baker  agrees  with  Dr.  Abbott 
that  the  proper  work  of  boards  of  health  is  often  not  clearly  understood 
by  the  public  or  by  the  boards  themselves,  and  is  apparently  inclined  to 
attribute  much  of  the  inefficiency  of  public  health  machinery  to  this  fact 
and  to  the  employment  of  untrained  men  in  the  technical  positions.  With 
this  view  the  author  is  in  full  accord. 

Most  of  Mr.  Baker's  discussion  of  the  paper  hinges  upon  the  proper 


20 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


division  of  the  field  of  public  health  work  between  municipality,  state 
and  nation.  The  state  boards,  he  considers,  should  be  advisory,  regulative 
and  supervisory  in  character.  They  should  establish  standards  of  practice 
and  efficiency  for  local  boards  to  follow,  to  the  end  that  the  work  of 
protecting  the  public  health  may  be  more  uniformly  and  efficiently  done 
throughout  the  commonwealth.  This  is  an  excellent  point.  It  is  highly 
desirable  in  the  author's  opinion  that  uniformity  should  exist,  both  in  the 
methods  of  carrying  on  public  health  work  and  in  reporting  statistics. 
The  measures  which  state  boards  of  health  are  now  taking  to  bring  about 
greater  uniformity  and  efficiency  among  the  local  boards  are  producing 
results,  but  there  remains  much  to  be  done.  Local  boards  of  health  in 
small  cities  and  towns  are  often  very  incompetent  and  in  need  of  clear 
and  specific  instruction. 

An  important  function  of  state  boards  of  health,  Mr.  Baker  considers, 
is  the  control  of  the  design  and  operation  of  public  works  such  as  water 
supplies  and  sewerage  systems.  The  purity  of  public  water  supplies  he 
says  is  a  state  problem  usually  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  a  single  munici- 
pality and  should  be  subject  to  regulation  by  a  central  authority.  The 
author  concurs  in  this  view.  In  so  far  as  questions  of  this  kind  can  be 
regulated  by  the  state  it  is  obviously  wise  to  have  them  so  controlled. 
Where  state  boundaries  make  this  form  of  management  impracticable, 
it  would  seem  that  national  supervision  or  a  mutual  agreement  between 
the  states  concerned  should  be  effected;  in  fact,  something  like  an  agree- 
ment between  the  states  of  New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  is 
said  to  exist  at  the  present  moment  with  respect  to  the  pollution  of  cer- 
tain interstate  waters. 

Water  supplies  and  sewerage  systems,  although  good  examples  of  sub- 
jects suitable  for  state  regulation,  are  scarcely  more  important  than  milk 
supplies  and  other  supplies  of  food.  Quarantine  does  not  seem  to  the 
author  to  be  a  proper  subject  for  state  control  except  as  it  relates  to 
the  quarantine  of  one  city  against  another — a  rare  and  exceptional  possi- 
bility.   In  general,  quarantine  should  be  managed  by  the  government. 

Mr.  Baker  makes  a  plea  for  national  regulation  of  certain  health  matters 
and  gives  reasons  for  his  belief  that  such  super\-ision  is  desirable.  Just 
what  form  he  would  have  the  national  health  bureau  take  he  does  not 
specify,  nor  is  it  important  that  this  should  be  mentioned  in  the  discussion. 
The  supervisory  and  regulative  control  which  a  national  health  bureau 
could  exercise  over  the  various  state  health  organizations  and  its  educa- 
tive powers  would  undoubtedly  be  of  much  value. 

Reviewing  as  a  whole  the  remarks  of  the  persons  who  have  discussed 
this  paper,  and  keeping  in  mind  the  opinions  of  his  own  which  the  author 
desires  to  bring  out,  the  following  matters  are  noted: 

Greater  efficiency  is  needed  in  the  administration  of  public  health  work. 
This  is  required  not  because  there  exists  an  alarming  prevalence  of  trans- 
missible disease,  but  because  it  is  very  obvious  that  better  work  can  be 
done.    The  opportunities  which  exist  and  the  promise  of  reward  whith 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


2t 


would  follow  the  employment  of  more  effective  methods  of  doing  public 
health  work  were  plainly  apparent  in  the  remarks  of  all  who  have  con- 
tributed to  the  discussion. 

It  is  agreed  that  greater  efficiency  does  not  mean  greater  publicity  for 
the  achievements  of  the  health  bureau,  nor  does  it  mean  greater  hardship 
to  individuals  or  the  public  at  large.  Greater  efficiency  means  a  clearer 
knowledge  of  the  work  to  be  done  and  better  ability  to  do  it. 

It  is  as  important  to  know  what  to  avoid  as  what  to  undertake.  The 
more  simple  and  direct  work  of  preventing  disease  is  the  first  duty  and 
this  should  be  done  well  before  anything  else  is  attempted.  The  board 
of  health  should,  as  far  as  practicable,  do  all  the  public  health  work  of  the 
city.  Well  trained  men  are  indispensable  for  there  is  much  technical 
work  which  caimot  properly  be  carried  on  without  them. 

The  city,  state  and  nation  each  has  separate  functions  and  duties  to 
perform  in  protecting  the  public  from  necessary  sickness  and  premature 
death.  These  several  fields  of  work  are  definite  and  are  becoming  better 
understood. 

The  public,  by  gaining  a  more  enlightened  knowledge  of  the  principles 
and  laws  affecting  the  protection  of  health,  is  capable  of  materially  lighten- 
ing the  work  of  health  officials.  Charitable  and  philanthropic  societies 
and  associations  of  business  and  professional  people  can  help  health 
authorities  in  various  ways.  But  they  should  never  do  essentially 
public  health  work.  The  constituted  health  authorities  should  be  capable 
of  fully  occupying  this  territory. 

In  the  past  years  many  important  sanitary  reforms  have  been  initiated 
by  philanthropic  agencies  and  it  is  common  at  the  present  time  for  asso- 
ciations of  business  men  to  take  the  initiative  in  bringing  about  sanitary 
improvements.  Theoretically  it  should  not  be  necessary,  with  efficient 
public  health  work,  for  outside  agencies  to  act,  but  practically,  as  boards 
of  health  now  exist  often  with  inferior  equipment  and  inadequate  public 
support,  it  is  frequently  necessary  that  public  opinion  should  be  roused 
by  other  forces  than  the  health  authorities. 

It  cannot  be  too  strongly  stated  that  the  work  of  boards  of  health  is 
to  protect  the  public  health.  No  health  organization  should  be  used  to 
further  a  campaign  against  smoke  or  noise  or  billboards  or  other  common 
nuisance.  Recourse  for  relief  from  these  discomforts  should  be  sought 
elsewhere.  Health  officials  will  find  their  time  fully  occupied  if  they 
keep  up  with  the  growing  demands  which  are  made  upon  them  in  the 
direct  and  narrow  line  of  their  duty  and  employ  the  latest  scientific 
methods  for  the  prosecution  of  their  work. 

The  Chairman:  there  is  no  other  discussion  upon  this  subject  as  at 
present  given  we  will  adjourn  until  eight  o'clock  this  evening  to  meet  at 
the  Second  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  joint  meeting  then  adjourned. 


33 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


MONDAY  EVENING  SESSION. 

Monday  Evening,  November  i6,  1908,  8  p.m. 

The  second  session  of  the  League  was  held  in  conjxinction 
with  the  American  Civic  Association  in  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Pittsburgh  on  Monday  evening. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Robert  W.  DeForest,  Esq., 
of  New  York  City,  former  tenement  house  commissioner  of  New 
York  and  vice  president  of  the  New  Jersey  Central  Railroad. 

The  Chairman  :  It  becomes  my  pleasant  duty  to  open  this  meeting 
very  briefly. 

Mr.  DeForest:  When  I  was  a  boy  there  was  a  game  of  questions, 
called ' '  How  do  you  like  it  ?  where  do  you  like  it  ?  and  when  do  you  like  it  ?" 
I  do  not  propose  to  put  any  of  these  questions  now  with  regard  to  the  Pitts- 
burgh Survey,  because  none  of  you  as  yet  are  in  position  to  answer  them. 
I  do  propose,  however,  with  myself  to  play  a  somewhat  similar  game  which 
may  be  entitled  What  is  the  Pittsburgh  Survey?  Why  is  the  Pittsburgh 
Survey?  and,  How  has  the  Pittsburgh  Survey  been  brought  about? 

What  is  the  Pittsburgh  Survey?  It  is  a  close  range  investigation  of 
conditions  of  life  and  labor  in  Pittsburgh  as  a  typical  American  indus- 
trial city,  and  it  is  a  study  made  by  many  of  the  best 
What  is  the  equipped  and  most  experienced  social  workers  in  the 
Pittsburgh  United  States.    Its  results  will  be  summarized  in  sev- 

Survey?  ^^^^  numbers  of  Charities  and  The  Commons  to  be 

issued  during  the  winter,  and  will  be  later  published 
in  book  form  by  the  Russell  Sage  Foundation  as  one  of  its  series  of  edu- 
cational publications.  The  book  will  be  somewhat  analogous  to  that  of 
Mr.  Booth  on  London. 

Why  such  a  survey?  Because  to  improve  the  social  and  living  condi- 
tions of  the  working  classes  in  our  industrial  cities  we  must  first  know 
accurately  what  and  why  they  are,  as  we  find  them. 

Why  Pittsburgh?  Pittsburgh  was  selected  for  this  industrial  survey 
not  because  Pittsburgh  needed  any  special  treatment,  surgical  or  medical — 
certainly  not  because  Pittsburgh  needed  any  absent  treatment,  but  be- 
cause Pittsburgh  was  the  typical  industrial  American  city,  and  because 
in  Pittsburgh  has  been  found  a  degree  of  local  sym- 
Why  pathy  and  cooperation  without  which  such  a  study,  no 

Pittsburgh?  matter  how  satisfying  to  the  curiosity,  could  have  no 
practical  results.  As  to  practical  results,  I  find  myself 
quite  in  sympathy  with  the  old  woman  who  had  a  smoky  chimney  of  long 
standing.  "John,"  said  she  to  her  husband,  "that  chimney  is  smoking 
again."  "Yes,"  said  he,  "that  chimney  should  be  investigated." 
' '  John,  "said  she, ' '  what  that  chimney  needs,  is  not  investigating — it  needs 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


23 


attending  to."  Our  Pittsburgh  friends,  however,  should  make  no  mis- 
take. This  is  no  invasion  of  vandal  sociologists  from  the  predatory  wilds 
of  Boston,  Chicago  and  New  York,  though  these  cities  are  all  represented 
in  the  Survey.  We  of  other  cities  are  here  quite  as  much  to  learn  as  to 
teach,  but  if  there  are  any  smoky  chimneys  in  Pittsburgh  which  need 
"attending  to  "  after  this  investigation,  they  will  have  to  be  "attended  to" 
by  Pittsburgh  itself.  "Attending  to, "  in  order  to  be  effective,  must  come 
from  within  and  not  without.  If  an  outsider  had  tried  to  impose  on  John 
and  Maria  his  particular  patent  remedy  for  their  smoking  chimney  they 
would  probably  have  united  in  resenting  the  interference  and  have  thrown 
him  out  of  the  window,  while  that  chimney  might  have  gone  on  smoking. 

How  the  Pittsburgh  Survey  has  been  made  possible.    By  an  unusual 
conjunction  of  cooperating  forces,  by  what  in  these  days  of  universal 
football  enthusiasm  may  be  better  understood  if  called  team  play.  There 
are  Mr.  Paul  U.  Kellogg,  Director  of  the  Survey  with 
Team  Play  his  assistants,  Mr.  Frank  E.  Wing,  Prof.  John  R.  Com- 

mons, of  Wisconsin;  Mrs.  Florence  Kelley,  of  New  York 
but  a  Pennsylvania  woman,  and  Robert  A.  Woods,  of  Boston,  a  Pitts- 
burgh boy.  They  are  in  the  rush  line.  Then  your  own  citizens:  Mayor 
Guthrie,  Mr.  English,  until  recently  president  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
Judge  Buffington  of  Federal  Court,  Mr.  Hall  and  others,  not  to  speak  of 
your  settlements  who  are  giving  able  interference,  and  the  Russell  Sage 
Foundation  is  in  the  back  field.  With  such  a  team  there  certainly  ought 
to  be  a  touchdown  somewhere. 

I  have  been  asked  why  Mrs.  Sage's  $10,000,000  foundation  is  in  the  back- 
ground.   Because  in  these,  and  in  other  efforts  for  the  improvement  of 
living  conditions  in  which  it  is  taking  part,  it  thinks  it 
The  Sage  can  accomplish  most  by  being  in  the  background.  The 

Foundation  Sage  Foundation  might  be  doing  things  all  by  itself, 
and  if  it  was  seeking  for  glory  it  would  do  so.  The 
Foundation  is  not  seeking  for  glory,  but  for  results,  and  it  believes  that 
results  can  better  be  brought  about  by  team-play — team-play  in  which, 
while  it  may  contribute  money  and  perhaps  some  direction,  it  can  secure 
cooperation  of  such  forces  in  and  out  of  Pittsburgh  as  have  cooperated 
here. 

You  may  ask  why  is  Robert  W.  DeForest  presiding  at  this  meeting? 
The  Director  of  our  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Arts  in  New  York  remarked 
to  me  one  day  that  he  seemed  to  be  getting  lots  of  credit  for  what  other 
people  were  doing.  I  am  in  the  same  position.  I  have  for  many  years 
been  president  of  the  New  York  Charity  Organization  Society  or  Associated 
Charities,  a  group  of  societies  of  substantially  similar  name,  which  number 
more  than  200  throughout  the  country,  and  to  which  your  Pittsburgh 
society  is  a  recent  addition.  This  society  publishes  "Charities,"  and 
because  the  President,  I  am  also  Chairman  of  its  Publication  Committee. 
That  is  why  I  am  here  tonight,  and  with  this  brief  explanation  I  shall  intro- 
duce to  you  in  turn,  Mr.  Kellogg,  Mr.  Woods,  Mr.  Atterbury  and  Mr. 


24 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


English,  who  will  put  you  in  possession  of  such  knowledge  that  you  can 
answer  the  question  as  respects  the  Pittsburgh  Survey — How  you  like  it  ? 

And  the  first  gentlemen  I  propose  calling  upon  is  Mr.  Robert  A.  Woods 
who,  though  his  residence  is  in  Boston,  is  a  Pittsburgh  boy.  He  is  now 
director  of  the  South  End  House  of  Boston. 

Mr.  Woods  then  read  his  paper  on  " Pittsbxirgh's  Civic  Problem.'! 
(See  Appendix.) 

The  Chairman:  The  next  gentleman  to  speak  to  you  is  Mr.  Paul  U. 
Kellogg.  Now  Mr.  Kellogg  is  captain  of  this  fine  team.  He  is  playing 
quarter-back  too.  The  Pittsburgh  Survey  is  very  largely  due  to  his 
initiative,  and  he  is  the  one  of  all  who  is  most  competent  to  speak  to  you 
and  enable  you  to  answer  the  question  of  how  you  like  it.  Mr.  Kellogg. 
[Applause.] 

Mr.  Kellogg  then  read  his  paper  on  "The  Civic  Responsibilities  of 
Democracy  in  an  Industrial  District."    (See  Appendix.) 

The  Chairman:  We  will  next  hear  from  Mr.  Grosvenor  Atterbury 
Mr.  Grosvenor  Atterbury  by  profession  is  an  architect.  He  is  something 
more.  He  is  an  architect  quite  as  well  known  in  Pittsburgh  as  in  New 
York.  He  is  the  architect  of  the  famous  Phipps  Model  Tenement  in  New 
York,  and  he  is  giving  special  attention  (I  may  say  confidentially  for  the 
Sage  Foundation)  to  the  construction  of  small,  cheap,  sanitary  houses  for 
working  people.    Mr.  Atterbury.  [Applause:] 

Mr.  Atterbury:  Ladies  and  GetUlemen:  While  I  am  waiting  for  some 
light  I  am  going  to  say  a  word  about  the  theoretic  definition  of  town  plan- 
ning as  distinguished  from  the  more  or  less  practical  definition  I  will  give 
you  presently  by  means  of  the  lantern.  It  is  a  new  word  in  this  country, 
although  in  Germany  and  Austria  it  has  been  known 
Town  for  nearly  a  century.    I  should  call  it  the  art  and  science 

Planning  of  the  distribution  of  population,  and  I  dare  say  that  a 

good  many  of  the  men  who  dig  our  sewers  know  more 
about  it  practically  than  you  and  I  do.  You  will  find  today,  way  off  on 
the  borders  of  Hungary,  towns  in  which  there  is  more  art  in  this  respect  than 
in  most  of  the  clever,  prosperous  cities  in  this  country,  and  I  fancy  that 
many  a  laborer  who  comes  to  us  from  such  places,  remembers  and  feels 
the  loss  of  that  touch  of  art  which  by  its  power  to  rest,  divert  and  please, 
makes  him  surprisingly  patient  under  the  burden  of  taxes  and  civic  duties 
which  he  has  to  bear  in  European  countries. 

Town  planning  might  properly  be  divided  into  three  departments: 
municipal,  in  which  I  include  public  parks  and  buildings;  commercial,  com- 
prising structures  for  business  occupation,  and  manufacture;  and  domestic, 
which  has  to  do  with  the  housing  of  the  people. 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


Now  while  there  is  much  to  be  said  about  both  the  municipal  and  com- 
mercial sides  of  this  question,  you  are,  I  think,  to  hear  these  discussed  by 
others,  in  the  course  of  this  conference;  and  for  this  reason,  and  because 
I  believe  the  domestic,  or  housing,  problem  to  be  much  the  most  vital,  I 
am  going  to  take  the  few  minutes  I  have  for  a  brief  presentation  of  this 
aspect  of  the  question. 

The  influence  of  the  workingman's  home  is  vital  and  far  reaching,  not 
only  for  what  you  might  call  direct  reasons,  but  by  reason  of  certain  indi- 
rect influences  to  which  we  have  given  little  thought  as  yet. 

Take,  for  example,  the  question  of  waste.  The  President's  Commission 
on  the  Conservation  of  Natural  Resources  has  justified  itself  a  hundred 
times  over  already,  and  they  have  not  gotten  farther 
Vital  Impor-  than  the  mouth  of  the  mine.  When  they  get  to  the 
tance  of  the  kitchen  sink,  I  believe  they  will  accomplish  tenfold 
Domestic  Phase  [Applause.]    They  tell  us  that  for  every  ton  of 

coal  that  we  get  to  a  mine's  mouth  we  leave  over  a  ton 
behind,  and  that  of  the  ton  we  get  out,  5  per  cent  of  its  stored  energy 
finally  does  our  work.  But  it  is  probably  safe  to  say  that  for  the 
greatest  single  item  in  this  further  waste  of  95  per  cent,  you  will  have  to 
look  into  the  domestic  ash  can,  where  you  are  likely  to  find  one-quarter 
of  its  contents  unbumt  coal. 

On  the  principle  of  large  sales  and  small  profits,  the  greatest  saving  is 
likely  to  be  made  by  little  economies  in  innumerable  instances.  We  need 
no  better  illustration  of  this  than  the  fabulous  stores  of  actual  wealth 
hived  by  the  peasants  of  France — out  of  which,  at  the  end  of  a  devastat- 
ing war,  she  paid  her  millards  to  Germany,  and  from  which  today,  the 
nations  of  the  world  are  still  borrowing. 

For  the  conservation  of  our  resources,  therefore,  the  waste  at  twelve 
or  fifteen  million  kitchen  sinks,  is  as  important  as  the  waste  at  the  mine 
mouth,  and  probably  in  view  of  its  educational  aspect,  far  more  so.  For 
the  key  to  all  our  natural  resources — ^the  vitality  of  our  laboring  classes — 
lies  for  good  or  ill  in  the  workingman's  home. 

But  over  and  above  this  kind  of  waste,  which  to  a  greater  or  less  degree 
runs  all  through  the  workingman's  household  economy,  there  is,  I  believe, 
an  enormous  waste  in  the  construction  of  the  houses  themselves.  It 
would  probably  be  safe  to  say  that  the  poorest  man's 
Workingmen's  house  is  the  most  expensively  built,  taking  all  things 
Homes  and  into  consideration;  for  the  wealthy  man  can  afford  to 
■^^g^g  employ  the  best  skill  and  material,  and  secure,  in  the 

end,  the  wisest  investment. 

This  waste  applies,  furthermore,  not  only  to  the  original  construction, 
but  to  the  maintenance — and  above  all,  to  loss  by  fire.  The  highest  aver- 
age per  capita  fire  loss  abroad  is,  I  believe,  eighty  cents  per  annum,  while 
here  with  us  it  probably  exceeds  $3.00,  very  nearly  three  hundred  million 
dollars  a  year,  actually  recorded — three  hundred  million  dollars  of  "money 
to  buml"    Just  how  much  over  and  above  this  has  been  consumed  is 


26 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


impossible  to  say;  but  of  the  niillons  of  workingmen's  homes  in  this  country 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  three-quarters  are  flimsy  wooden  structures,  and 
uninsured — and  therefore,  the  unrecorded  losses  to  the  class  which  can 
least  afford  to  stand  it,  are  probably  even  greater,  relatively,  than  the 
figures  quoted  above.  The  inroads  on  our  forests  for  this  kind  of  firewood 
is  appalling — to  say  nothing  of  the  current  consumption  of  timber  for  the 
erection  and  repair  of  millions  of  unsubstantial  houses. 

Mr.  Kellogg,  again,  has  given  you  in  his  paper,  sufficiently  startling 
figures  as  to  the  indirect  money  loss  due  to  unsanitary  Jiving  conditions, 
the  corollary  to  which,  the  possible  conservation  of  physical  and  mental 
force,  measured  in  mere  foot-pounds  of  energy,  if  you  please,  or  its  cash 
equivalent,  a  startling  sum,  needs  no  further  emphasis. 

But  he  has  said  nothing  of  the  positive,  beneficent  results  of  good  hous- 
ing, through  certain  indirect  influences  which  we  have  heretofore  taken  no 
notice  of,  or  considered  quite  negligible,  if  we  have 
Good  stopped  to  consider  at  all.    They  are  educational,  psy- 

Housing  and  chological,  sentimental,  if  you  please,  but  nevertheless 
Conservation  only  in  their  obvious  stimulating  of  the  worker's 

vitality,  through  the  recreation  and  happiness  they  can 
bring,  but  also  by  certain  human  instincts  they  arouse,  which  may  prove 
mighty  champions  for  the  people's  welfare.  I  mean  the  sense  of  ownership, 
and  the  love  of  the  beatitiftd. 

What  these  things  mean  we  cannot  stop  to  consider  here;  but  you  may 
already  realize  what  the  purchasing  power  of  the  working  people  of  this 
country  is,  although  you  may  not  have  stopped  to  ask  what  instinct 
directs  it,  or  what  would  be  the  result  if  the  standards  of  the  workingman, 
and  particularly  the  working  woman,  the  world's  greatest  purchasing 
agent,  were  to  become  enlightened  by  the  wisdom  of  educated  taste,  and 
the  pride  of  ownership.  Both  are  really  natural  instincts  which  are  latent 
in  all  of  us,  but  particularly  powerful,  I  think,  in  the  people  who  come 
to  this  country  to  supply  our  labor.  Curiously  enough,  the  latter  instinct 
is  found  in  this  district  to  be  indirectly  responsible  for  a  good  deal  of  your 
congestion.  For  I  read  in  the  reports  of  the  Pittsburgh  Survey  that  the 
ambition  to  save  money  enough  to  buy  their  owti  homes,  is  one  of  the 
reasons  why  so  many  families,  already  cooped  up  in  one  or  two  rooms,  take 
in  boarders. 

Mr.  Kellogg  has  told  you  also  what  civic  responsibility  means,  and  that 
an  industrial  center  in  a  democracy  ought  to  seek  to  attain  a  better  stand- 
ard of  community  interests  than  any  other  form  of 
Standards  of  government  can  give.  So  now  I  am  going  to  show  you 
Comparison  the  kind  of  thing  that  some  other  forms  of  government 
are  today  giving  their  people,  choosing  for  purposes  of 
contrast,  the  best  conditions  in  a  few  of  those  European  cities  from  which 
we  draw  the  people  of  whom  I  have  just  spoken,  who  have  these  natural 
instincts  strongly  developed.  And  it  is  perhaps  well  to  explain  that  the 
slides  I  am  going  to  use  are  not  to  be  taken  as  representing  a  comparison 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


27 


of  average  local  and  foreign  housing  conditions.  In  that  sense  some  of  the 
contrasts  would  be  unfair.  But  they  will  illustrate  the  difference  between 
good  and  bad  housing,  and  give  us  some  idea  of  a  concrete,  practical 
definition  of  town  planning.  They  will  show  you  the  standard  of  excel- 
lence that  Pittsburgh  has  to  equal,  and — if  the  city  lives  up  to  its  civic 
responsibility — surpass. 

[The  remainder  of  Mr.  Atterhury's  address  was  illustrated  by  lantern 
slides,  which  he  explained  in  detail  as  they  were  shown  on  the  screen.  Some 
of  the  points  which  he  illustrated  were  as  follows:] 

To  understand  what  a  town  plan  means,  notice  these  two  diagrams; 
one  the  common  practical  layout,  by  which  a  certain  number  of  people  are 
stacked  on  a  certain  amount  of  territory,  and  the  other  an  arrangement  by 
which  a  certain  amount  of  variety  of  aspect,  a  certain  amount  of  art,  is 
sought  to  be  obtained.  In  the  case  of  the  city,  town  planning  means  the 
bringing  of  the  country  into  the  town  to  a  greater  or  less  extent. 


Mr.  Kellogg  has  told  you  of  the  general  economic  conditions,  but  he 
didn't  show  you  this  plan  and  the  sketches  which  show  how  these  plots 
in  Essen  are  divided  so  as  to  give  each  house  a  suitable  area  of  ground; 
and  the  result  of  this  system  as  against  the  kind  of  thing  shown  in  the 
slides  is  not  a  mere  myth. 

The  Edinburgh  Committee  has  been  investigating  the  condition  of  some 
sixteen  or  eighteen  thousand  children.  They  found  the  children  living 
for  example,  in  single  room  tenements  at  the  age  of 
Congestion  seven,  averaging  an  inch  and  a  quarter  less  in  height 

and  the  and  seven  pounds  less  in  weight  than  children  living  in 

Stature  of  two  room  tenements!    And  when  it  came  to  four  room 

Children  tenements  the  increase  was  something  like  two  inches 

over  the  one  room  condition.  And  the  Krupps  realized 
that  the  vitality  of  their  people  is  just  so  much  money  in  their  pocket,  and 
they  have  spent  enormous  sums  in  laying  out  the  series  of  colonies  in 
which  their  people  live.  The  rents  are  about  one-fifth,  so  far  as  I  can  tell, 
of  the  rents  in  Pittsburgh.  Of  course  it  is  fair  to  take  off  a  certain 
amount  for  the  difference  in  the  purchasing  power  of  money,  but  never- 
theless the  contrast  is  shocking.  It  does  seem  unbelievable  that  even  with 
our  high  cost  of  construction  there  should  be  any  such  discrepancy. 


The  question  of  how  to  get  a  cheap,  attractive,  healthy  house  within 
the  reach  of  laboring  men  is  a  very  difficult  problem,  and  I  don't  suppose 
that  it  is  proper  to  quote  foreign  examples  except  as  suggestive.    What  I 


28 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


am  showing  you  here  is  a  plan  of  one  of  a  series  of  cooperative  schemes 
which  are  being  put  into  effect  all  over  England — in  a  dozen  different 
districts.    It  is  one  of  three  types  of  development.    The  cooperative 

scheme  consists  of  the  union  of  individuals  under  the 
oCnemes  guidance  of  some  company  usually  founded  by  a  phi- 

for  Obtaming  lanthropist,  sometimes  financed  by  the  government. 
Economic  because  over  there  the  government  has  a  fund  which 

Homes  •  lends  to  undertakings  of  this  kind.    These  are  run 

P  so  that  a  man  can  buy  stock  in  the  company — can 

buy  his  house  by  process  of  rent  payment,  rentals 
applied  on  the  purchase,  and  if  he  falls  ill  and  gets  behind  in  his  rent, 
he  is  not  ejected  until  such  a  time  as  the  surplus  which  he  has  paid 
over  and  above  ordinary  rental  charges  is  consumed;  or  if  he  has  to  move 
to  a  neighboring  town,  instead  of  having  an  unsalable  house  on  his  hands 
he  has  a  liquid  asset  in  the  shape  of  stock.  Again,  he  has  the  unearned 
increments  of  the  property  for  his  own  benefit.  Almost  all  the  schemes 
abroad  which  are  put  in  operation  have  one  or  two  common  objects,  and 
the  first  is  to  protect  the  poor  man  against  the  speculator.  They  do  it  in 
various  ways.  Sometimes  the  city  buys  the  district  ahead  of  the  advance 
of  the  city,  with  the  right  of  repurchase,  so  that  there  is  no  object  for  a 
speculator  to  buy  it;  and  sometimes  it  will  tax  sales — tax  the  unearned 
increment.  When  a  man  sells  a  piece  of  property  he  gives  a  certain  per- 
centage of  the  profits  back  to  the  community.  These,  if  you  please,  are 
socialistic  means.  But  it  may  be  possible  to  accomplish  something  of  the 
same  kind  here  on  a  cooperative  basis  and  I  am  showing  you  these  schemes 
because  they  are  suggestive  of  that. 


The  second  class  of  these  towns  compose  what  I  should  call  a  proprie- 
tary class,  towns  which  are  built  and  owned  and  entirely  controlled  by 

companies.  Port  Sunlight,  owned  by  the  Sunlight 
Proprietary  Soap  people,  is  an  example.  This  town  is  occupied 
Scheme  by  their  employees.    The  houses  don't  look  like  work- 

ingmen's  homes,  but  they  are,  and  they  rent  from 
seven  and  a  half  to  ten  shillings  a  week  for  a  house  of  five  or  six  rooms. 


Then  there  is  a  third  type  of  model  town  which  you  might  call  govern- 
mental.   Boumeville,  which  is  in  the  outskirts  of  Birmingham,  and  which 

was  originally  started  by  Mr.  Cadbury,  the  cocoa  man, 
Governmental  is  a  good  example,  because  not  long  ago  he  presented 
Schemes  to         government,  and  it  is  now  in  charge  of  the 

charities  commission.  There  is  a  very  charming  plan 
laid  out,  and  you  can  see  the  value  of  a  curved  street  as  against  rectangular 
arrangement,  in  the  external  aspect  of  a  row  of  buildings.    The  village 


4 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


29 


is  operated  on  leases.  They  began  by  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  year 
leases,  but  have  gradually  come  down  to  a  short  lease  and  work  on  the 
theory  of  constructing  the  houses  to  suit  the  tenants.  The  tenants  after 
they  have  rented  them,  become  representatives  on  the  board  of  control. 
So  that  while  it  is  governmental  in  the  sense  that  the  funds  are  held  and 
controlled,  and  the  ownership  resides  in  the  government,  the  people  who 
live  in  the  town  have  a  very  large  part  in  the  government  of  it. 

*  *  *  * 


What  comes  on  the  screen  now  might  have  been  found  elsewhere  if  the 
Pittsburgh  Survey  had  made  its  observation  elsewhere  instead  of  in  Pitts- 
burgh. Such  conditions  are  not  pleasant  to  contemplate,  but  they  em- 
phasize certain  dangers  that  we  are  today  beginning  to  realize. 

These  things — old  "Tammany  Hall"  with  dark  rooms — these  triple 
deckers,  which  appear  to  be  upside  down  (referring  to  a  mistake  of  the 
lantern  operator)  but  are  probably  just  as  comfortable  that  way  as  the 
other  [Laughter],  you  can  take  your  choice.  You  pay  fifteen  cents. 
No  bed-clothes,  no  smoking  and  no  walking!  These  things,  I  say,  are 
largely  becoming  past  history,  thanks  to  the  heroic  work  of  your  Pitts- 
burgh Board  of  Health  and  Tenement  Department. 

*  *  *  * 


In  democracy  a  man  has  the  right  to  do  just  as  he  pleases.    At  least 
we  have  always  put  it  that  way;  but  when  you  see  how  they  have  been 
sleeping  at  Yoders  it  raises  the  question  as  to  the  wis- 
Liberty,  dom  of  that  policy.    "Liberty,  Equality,  and  Frater- 

Equality  and  nity"  make  pretty  bad  bedfellows,  and  we  are  just 
Congestion  beginning  to  realize  that  fact.  Fifty  years  ago  in  Amer- 
ica was  convulsed  over  the  evils  of  slavery,  but  I  con- 
fess that  it  had  its  good  points.  When  you  own  an  animal,  especially  a 
working  animal,  you  take  pretty  good  care  of  it,  and  I  doubt  if  you  would 
have  found  many  instances  of  colored  slaves  being  allowed  to  sleep  in 
such  damp,  pestilential  cellars.  It  did  not  pay.  The  trouble  is  today 
that  we  rent  the  men  we  employ.  Yet,  even  from  a  utilitarian  stand- 
point, it  is  a  very  grave  question  whether  the  employer  who  wants  to 
practice  the  art  of  getting  the  greatest  amount  of  work  out  of  a  man,  can 
stop  at  the  factory  door;  whether  he  has  not  got  to  go  to  the  workingman's 
home,  just  as  he  goes  to  the  stable  where  he  keeps  his  horse,  to  see  that  the 
bedding  is  good  and  the  feed  and  the  water  are  fit.  So  today,  para- 
doxically, the  country  is  beginning  to  concern  itself  with  the  abuses  of 
freedom !  Beyond  all  competitors,  in  the  past  few  decades,  Pittsburgh 
has  distilled  fabulous  wealth,  but  the  process  has  left  ugly,  dangerous 
by-products.  It  would  be  true,  probably,  of  any  other  equally  rapid  indus- 
trial growth — if  there  were  any  such;  it  is  true  today  in  a  measure,  in  all 
our  great  cities;  yet  I  believe  Pittsburgh  can  turn  even  such  malodorous 


3© 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


refuse  into  materials  of  value,  as  it  makes  healing  medicines  from  coal 
tar;  can  use  even  her  tenements  to  add  to  her  wealth  as  well  as  to  her  civic 
repute. 

Pittsburgh  has  taught  the  world  how  to  convert  pig  iron  into  steel  and 
I  believe  is  going  similarly  to  teach  a  great  many  other  cities  how  to  turn 
bad  housing  into  good  and  hovels  into  homes.  [Applause.] 

The  Chairman:  Now,  I  am  going  to  lay  pretty  violent  hands  on  this 
program,  but  we  are  not  through  yet.  This  important  paper  of  Mr. 
English  on  "The  Functions  of  Business  Bodies  in  Improving  Civic  Con- 
ditions" is  not  to  be  read  this  evening.  It  would  not  be  fair  to  put  it  at 
the  tail  end  of  as  long  meeting  as  we  have  had.  But  I  think  we  must 
hear  from  Mr.  English,  and  while  I  won't  ask  him  to  speak  about  the  func- 
tion of  business  bodies,  I  will  ask  him  to  say  something  about  the  Pitts- 
burgh Survey.    Mr.  English.  [Applause.] 

Mr.  H.  D.  W.  English:  Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  I  shall 
not  detain  you  for  more  than  a  moment.  I  simply  want  to  appear  at  the 
call  of  the  chair  and  express  my  deep  gratitude,  and  I  believe  the  grati- 
tude of  every  citizen  of  Pittsburgh  for  this  splendid  effort  of  the  Pittsburgh 
Survey.  There  has  been  nothing  about  the  Survey — and  that  was  my 
understanding  of  it  when  it  first  started — as  I  believe  you  will  admit 
tonight,  of  that  yellow  order  that  we  sometimes  get  in  our  papers.  These 
have  been  cold  facts  given  us  about  our  conditions 
Cold  Facts  here  in  Pittsburgh,  and  I  think  I  should  also  say  a 
word  of  thanks  on  behalf  of  Pittsburgh  to  the  Sage 
Foundation  and  its  manager  who  is  present  here  to- 
night, that  we  have  had  this  Survey  made  possible  and  that  we  may  look 
at  ourselves  and  know  ourselves  as  we  really  are. 

A  business  man  who  wants  to  better  his  plant  first  finds  out  the  con- 
ditions. We  are  here  this  evening  to  find  out,  and  the  Pittsburgh  Survey 
has  demonstrated  to  us  the  actual  conditions  in  Pittsburgh,  both  civic 
and  social.  What  are  we  going  to  do  about  it?  That  is  the  question 
tonight.  I  agree  with  the  chairman  when  he  said  that  it  is  not  a  part 
of  the  Sage  Foundation  to  continue  to  spend  their  money  for  the  better- 
ing of  the  conditions  which  we  are  now  cognizant  exist  here.  We  as 
citizens  of  Pittsburgh  knowing  these  conditions  must — and  I  believe  we 
will — better  them.  [Applause.] 

Pittsburgh  is  the  great  workshop  of  the  world.  We  are  constantly 
doing  great  things  in  Pittsburgh  for  the  world  outside.  I  believe  we  have 
more  real  gray  matter  in  Pittsburgh  to  the  square  inch  than  most  any 
■  other  city — here  in  the  United  States — but  the  trouble  has  been — and 
we  might  as  well  face  it,  citizens  of  Pittsburgh — that 
The  Real  we  have  been  so  intent  on  turning  that  gray  matter 

Values  ii^to  dollars  and  our  city  has  been  growing  at  such  an 

enormous  rate  in  the  last  ten  years — now,  I  am  trying 
to  make  an  apology  for  you  and  myself — that  we  have  lost  sight  of  the  real 
values  of  our  city,  and  that  is,  men,  women  and  children.  [Applause.] 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


31 


I  confess  it  is  with  a  great  deal  of  shame  as  a  citizen  of  Pittsburgh  that 
I  view  the  conditions  that  we  have  here,  but  then  on  the  other  hand  when 
I  look  at  the  men  and  the  women  who  make  up  this  wonderful  community, 
and  when  I  know  what  they  have  accomplished  in  material  things  for 
the  whole  world  I  simply  want  to  say  to  you  that  what  we  must  do,  men 
and  women  of  Pittsburgh,  is,  instead  of  turning  our  eyes  outward  for  a 
while  in  doing  the  great  work  of  the  world  we  must  turn  them  in  upon 
our  city.  I  want  to  make  this  prediction,  that  if  these  great  engineers 
that  we  have  here — and  I  am  glad  to  say  that  more  and  more  in  the  past 
few  years  through  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  other  organizations 
of  this  city  have  been  giving  their  time  to  these  various  questions — and 
that  if  the  great  manufacturers  of  this  city  who  are  used  to  doing  great 
things  will  only  donate — I  was  going  to  say  donate  one  hour  a  day,  or 
even  less  than  that,  to  the  settlement  of  these  great  questions  that  have 
been  brought  before  us  tonight  in  a  rather  unpleasant  light,  I  will  admit 
that  we  can  settle  them  in  five  years  as  we  are  going  to  settle  the  smoke 
question  in  the  next  three.  [Applause.]  Because  the  smoke  question 
despite  the  clouds  that  you  see  here  is  being  gradually  but  surely  settled, 
and  we  are  finding  with  that  settlement  that  it  is  really  a  thing  that  has 
been  worth  while.  We  find  that  we  are  getting  a  higher  steam  efficiency 
and  a  lower  cost  for  fuel,  and  that  it  pays. 

Now,  of  course  these  questions  of  pay  make  a  good  many  of  us  business 
men  very  alert.  But  whether  it  pays  or  whether  it  does  not  pay  it  is 
your  duty  and  my  duty  here  in  this  city,  knowing  the  conditions  as  they 
exist,  to  better  them. 

And  now,  let  me  just  say  a  word  in  conclusion  in  thanking  these  gentle- 
men for  bringing  this  matter  before  us,  I  know  in  thanking  them  you 
would  have  me  do  that.  Pittsburgh  is  not  afraid  to  look  at  the  actual 
conditions,  and  certainly  she  will  not  be  afraid  to  better  those  conditions. 
And  now  let  us  right  here  tonight  resolve — and  I  see  a  great  many  of  the 
members  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce — let  us  here  tonight  resolve  that 
Pittsburgh  from  this  out,  along  social  and  civic  lines,  as  she  has  along 
industrial  lines,  for  years,  will  take  a  forward  movement,  and  that  instead 
of  pictures  such  as  we  have  had  thrown  upon  the  screen  tonight  from 
other  cities  we  shall  have  thrown  upon  the  screen  in  those  cities  some- 
thing worthy  of  emulation  from  Pittsburgh.  Then  indeed  we  can  say 
we  are  a  greater  Pittsburgh.  [Applause.] 

The  Chairman:  I  will  say  to  you.  Mr.  English,  that  there  is  no  city  in 
America  that  is  in  a  situation  to  throw  stones  at  this  particular  glass  house. 

Now,  going  on  and  continuing  to  take  liberties  with  this  program,  I  am 
going  to  call  only  upon  two  more  gentlemen  and  upon  them  for  simply 
five  minute  speeches  and  no  more.  I  will  first  call  upon  Prof.  Graham 
Taylor,  warder  of  the  Chicago  Commons,  who  is  one  of  the  associate 
editors  of  Charities  and  Commons.  Now  five  minutes.  Dr.  Taylor.  [Ap- 
plause.] 


32 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


Dr.  Taylor  :  Mr.  Chairman:  I  shall  have  to  assume  a  Chicago  pace  and 
promise  not  to  keep  you  more  than  three  to  four  minutes.  The  community 
of  interest  visualized,  demonstrated  and  brought  to  earth  by  that  marvel- 
ous exhibit  in  Carnegie  Hall  is  tremendously  impressive,  as  it  ought  to 
be,  not  merely  to  Pittsburgh  but  to  every  other  city  of  the  United  States. 
I  have  wished  for  the  presence  of  one  man  here  more  than  any  other  man 
in  the  world.  It  is  the  man  whose  twenty  years  of  splendid  toil  and  the 
investment  of  whose  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  set  the  type 
of  this  kind  of  survey.  I  refer  to  Mr.  Charles  Booth, 
Industrial  the  great  London  shipper.    He  it  was  who,  when  the  bit- 

Surveys  t^r  cry  of  outcast  London  was  raised  from  East  London 

alone  went  to  work  to  find  out  the  facts,  and  in  twenty 
years  of  the  leisure,  the  scant  leisure  of  his  busy  life  he  prepared  the  most 
scientific  and  exhaustive  analysis  that  has  ever  been  made  of  a  greater 
population,  in  a  work  numbering  seventeen  volumes,  entitled  "Life  and 
Labor  in  London."  Now,  that  work  had  a  very  direct  influence  upon 
Liverpool  and  Glasgow,  showing  again  and  illustrating  the  commimity 
of  interest.  One  of  them  had  a  better  harbor  than  the  other,  but  the 
waterways  led  to  better  highways,  and  the  highways  led  to  the  investi- 
gation of  housing  conditions,  as  the  houses  were  torn  down  in  broadening 
the  highways,  and  twenty-two  thousand  houses  of  the  city  of  Liverpool 
were  condemned  as  imworthy  of  human  habitation,  and  four  thousand  of 
them  razed  to  the  ground.  In  Glasgow  wonderful  improvements  fol- 
lowed this  basis  of  facts. 

Again,  let  me  speak  of  a  reciprocity.  It  is  between  New  York  and 
Chicago.  On  the  stage  of  Carnegie  Hall  at  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary 
of  the  Charity  Organization  Society  the  chairman  of  this  meeting  made 
this  statement,  that  the  experience  of  New  York  in  improving  its  bad 
condition  should  be  a  warning  to  every  growing  American  city  never  to 
let  those  conditions  arise.  And  then  he  made  this  astounding  statement, 
that  but  for  a  building  ordinance,  in  the  enactment  of  which  I  may  say 
he  had  more  to  do  than  any  other  man,  one  milUon  people  would  that  night 
be  living  in  rooms  receiving  their  Ught  and  air  only  through  other  rooms. 
Think  of  it  fellow  citizens,  that  one  man  could  say  that  a  million  of  his 
fellow  beings  had  been  let  out  into  God  Almighty's  sunlight  and  fresh  air 
by  one  act  of  the  state  legislature.  [Applause.] 

I  stood  in  the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  city  coimcil  of  Chicago  along- 
side of  the  Irish  alderman  of  my  ward.  Confronting  him  was  Mrs.  Em- 
mons Blaine,  one  of  the  first  ladies  of  that  city,  pleading  for  the  enactment 
of  a  building  ordinance  the  type  of  which  had  been 
Tenement  passed  in  New  York.    She  said  "Alderman  Dever,  I 

Ordinances         would  not  want  to  stand  in  your  responsibility  tonight. 

Your  vote  may  make  or  unmake  fatherhood  and  mother- 
hood for  a  generation  in  this  town."  He  said  "Madam,  you  shall  never 
be  disappointed  in  my  vote  " 

Gentlemen,  don't  you  suppose  that  I  took  some  satisfaction  in  having 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


33 


elected  that  man  to  the  city  council  of  Chicago  when  I  saw  him  grapple 
with  the  speculative  tenement  house  builders  who  resisted  at  every  point 
each  comma  and  clause  of  that  new  ordinance  which  now,  let  me  say,  is 
in  effect  in  that  city. 

Again,  let  me  give  one  other  illustration  of  the  community  of  interest 
which  Chicago  perhaps  may  contribute  to  others.    In  connection  with  an 
investigation  backed  by  this  same  Sage  Foundation, 
Juvenile  we  are  investigating  the  juvenile  delinquency  of  that 

Delinquency  city.  Twenty-four  thousand  cases  have  been  trans- 
ferred from  the  records  of  the  juvenile  court  to  the 
secondary  courts  of  that  institution.  Twenty-eight  hundred  of  them 
have  been  run  down  to  see  how  those  little  people  get  into  trouble,  what 
happened  to  them  when  they  were  in  trouble,  how  they  got  out  of  trouble 
if  they  did  get  out  of  trouble.  It  is  not  because  Chicago  is  the  worst  city 
for  juvenile  delinquency,  it  is  because  this  new  juvenile  court  movement 
needed  the  taking  of  statistical  facts  and  original  inquiry,  and  every 
other  city,  your  city  perhaps  and  the  world,  will  be  in  debt  to  Chicago  for 
the  original  investigation  of  fact. 

Now,  once  more  we  are  all  going  to  be  indebted  to  Pittsburgh.  I  stand 
here  as  one  of  the  commissioners  appointed  by  the  Governor  of  Illinois 
to  prepare  a  bill  for  the  next  legislature  to  protect  machinery  and  the 
sanitary  condition  of  shops.  I  mean  to  take  back  the  results  of  this 
investigation  and  this  exhibit  and  these  speeches  to  that  commission  which 
meets  again  next  week.  We  do  not  want  your  typhoid  fever,  we  do  not 
want  your  squalid  tenements.  We  do  not  want  your  filthy  streets.  We 
want  your  industries  without  the  awful,  awful  casualties  of  this  industrial 
warfare  of  peoples.  God  knows  we  have  enough  of  our  own,  but  if  we 
could  transport  that  exhibit,  as  I  mean  to  do  it,  if  it  is  possible  to  be  done, 
install  it  in  Chicago,  take  it  to  Detroit,  to  Milwaukee,  to  Cleveland,  to 
Louisville,  Pittsburgh  will  have  contributed  a  new  basis  of  prosperity,  a 
new  basis  of  safety,  comfort,  health,  wealth,  civilization  and  religion  such 
as  will  make  every  city  in  the  United  States  debtor  to  this  town.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

The  Chairman:  Now,  the  last  speaker  will  be  Dr.  Edward  T.  Devine 
who  in  addition  to  the  titles  he  bears  upon  this  program  has  been  for  many 
long  years  the  efficient  and  active  executive  head  of  the  New  York  Charity 
Organization  Society.  [Applause.] 

Dr.  Devine  :  I  hope  that  my  Chicago  associate  will  forgive  me  if  I  recall 
at  this  time  a  story  which  Mark  Twain  was  accustomed  to  tell  on  a  Chicago 
man  who  died  and  went  to  the  place  where  good  Chicagoans  are  supposed 
to  go,  and  after  a  few  days  he  met  an  old  neighbor  and  he  asked  him  how 
he  liked  it,  and  how  he  was  getting  along,  and  he  said,  "Well,  I  don't  know, 
I  can't  say  that  I  am  enjoying  myself  very  much,  Heaven  isn't  so  far 
ahead  of  Chicago  after  all,"  and  his  neighbor  said  "Well,  you  are  laboring 
under  one  misapprehension,  this  is  not  Heaven."  [Laughter.] 


34 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


My  friends,  when  "Charities  and  the  Commons"  a  few  months  before 
the  Sage  Foundation  had  begun  operations,  decided  on  the  Pittsburgh 
Survey  and  planned  and  undertook  it,  we  were  not  under  the  delusion  that 
this  was  a  premature  celestial  kingdom  which  we  were  about  to  investi- 
gate, nor  were  we  on  the  other  hand  under  the  delusion  that  it  partook 
entirely  of  the  characteristics  of  the  other  place.  We  did  not  expect  to 
find  here  a  Garden  of  Eden  or  a  community  in  which  the  golden  age  of 
poets  or  socialists  had  been  anticipated,  but  neither  did  we  expect  to  find 
a  place  in  which  the  forces  of  evil  go  unchallenged  and  the  downward 
dragging  tendencies  in  the  community  unchecked  and  have  their  way  as 
they  will  with  human  lives.  Frankly,  if  we  had  expected  that  Pittsburgh 
belonged  to  either  of  these  extreme,  unrepresentative  types  it  would  have 
had  no  interest  for  us. 

Why  was  the  Pittsburgh  survey  determined  upon?  Because  as  we  see 
here  in  Pittsburgh,  here  in  this  great  industrial  metropolis  of  the  Keystone 
State  as  in  no  other  community  upon  the  continent,  we 
The  Microcosm  ^  microcosm  the  industrial  America  that  is  to  be. 
of  Industrial  Here  in  Pittsburgh  we  see  the  nation  not  of  the  far  dis- 
tant future  but  of  the  immediate  future  where  the 

A  in  (^T\  p 

industrial  community  has  had  the  opportunity  to  show 
what  the  forces  are  that  are  determining  it.  The 
forces  that  shape  America's  destiny  and  mold  the  American  character  seem 
to  us  most  fully  at  work  here. 

Here  we  saw  the  nation  in  command  of  its  resources,  desiring  not  to 
waste  them  but  to  utilize  them.  Here  we  saw  America  inviting  the  people 
of  the  earth,  not  desiring  to  exploit  them  but  desiring  to  use  and  to  employ 
them.  Here  we  saw  America  becoming  interested  in  her  social  problems. 
Not  losing  her  head  about  them,  but  grappling  with  them  and  governing 
them.  And  so,  because  in  that  kind  of  thing  there  is  a  legitimate  interest 
throughout  the  entire  country  and  because  there  is  a  national  lesson  to 
learn  by  the  study  of  the  social  conditions  of  the  industrial  community, 
this  Pittsburgh  Survey  was  decided  upon.  And  I  wish  to  add  to  the 
explanations  that  have  been  given  just  one  explanation  which  has  in  effect 
been  given  and  yet  I  repeat  it  more  distinctly  for  the  sake  of  emphasis,  I 
wish  to  make  it  clear  that  the  Pittsburgh  Survey  could  not  have  been 
undertaken  and  could  not  have  been  carried  through  to  its  present  posi- 
tion except  for  the  cooperation  and  guidance  and  the  assistance  of  such 
men  as  Mayor  Guthrie  and  Mr.  English  and  Justice  Buffington,  and  the 
others  of  this  vicinity  who  have  stood  behind  those  who  have  been  doing 
the  work,  and  I  wish  to  make  it  clear,  that  the  gentlemen  that  I  have 
named  and  those  who  are  actively  at  work  in  the  settlements  and  in  the 
social  activities  of  this  city  are — along  with  Mr.  Kellogg  and  his  associates 
in  the  field  and  along  with  the  Russell  Sage  Foundation — entitled  to  the 
credit  for  what  has  been  accomplished.  We  are  willing  to  take  the  respon- 
sibilities for  all  its  faults.  We  are  willing  to  take  whatever  blame  or  cen- 
sure may  come  from  not  having  done  the  Survey  in  an  ideal  way,  but  if 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


35 


it  accomplishes  any  part  of  the  good  we  hope  for  it,  we  are  anxious  to 
share  the  good  with  you  people  in  Pittsburgh  and  other  people,  with  those 
whose  cooperation  has  been  essential  and  has  been  given  in  such  an  un- 
grudging way.  We  approached  this  Survey  not  in  a  provincial  spirit  but 
in  a  national  spirit,  and  we  were  met  here  with  the  spirit  in  which  we  came. 

I  have  three  suggestions  to  make,  and  I  substitute  those  for  the  address 
which  I  have  prepared.  The  Pittsburgh  Survey  is  an  incident  in  the  life 
of  your  community.  It  will  soon  be  closed.  But  if  you  will  get  behind 
and  help  the  settlements  that  are  at  work  in  this  city,  at  least  some  of  them, 
if  you  will  get  behind  and  get  into  the  Associated  Charities  that  have  been 
established  in  this  city  then  the  good  that  you  will  do  will  far  transcend 
the  good  that  it  is  possible  for  anyone  to  do  in  a  temporary  piece  of  work 
which  is  so  soon  closed.  If  you  will  also  join  our  Charities  family  and 
subscribe  for  Charities  and  the  Commons  you  will  not  only  get  in  that  way 
the  result  of  this  Pittsburgh  Survey  which  will  be  published  in  three  sep- 
arate magazine  numbers  in  January,  February  and  March,  but  you  will 
also  form  the  habit  of  cooperation  in  the  social  work  which  some  several 
thousands  of  your  fellow  citizens  in  the  different  American  communities 
have  also  formed  and  with  them  together  you  will  be  able  to  help  to  do 
the  things  that  need  to  be  done  in  this  social  field  in  our  American  com- 
munity. [Applause.] 

The  Secretary:  Announcements  in  regard  to  this  meeting  and  es- 
pecially as  to  this  session  found  their  way  to  England  and  produced  the 
following  interesting  correspondence  which  I  take  pleasure  in  bringing 
before  the  meeting  for  incorporation  in  the  formal  proceedings.  Messrs. 
Horsfall  and  Nettleford  are  leading  advocates  of  housing  reform  in 
Great  Britain  and  Mr.  George  Cadbury's  work  at  Boumville  is  well 
known.  I  also  submit  for  similar  insertion  a  letter  from  Dr.  Peter 
Roberts,  the  Industrial  Secretary  of  the  International  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association. 

Mr.  T.  C.  Horsfall,  of  Swanscoe  Park,  near  Macclesfield,  writes: 
I  feel  very  much  honored  by  your  suggestion  that  I  may  be  able  to 
say  something  worthy  of  being  listened  to  on  the  subjects  which  are  to 
be  discussed  at  the  approaching  meetings  in  Pittsburg.  My  study 
of  what  is  being  done  in  this  country  and  in  Germany  has  given  me  the 

the  conviction  that  the  work  which  deserves  the  first 
Continuous  place  on  the  municipal  sanitation  program  of  all 
Inspection  towns  is  that  of  the  "continuous  inspection"  of  all 

dwellings  by  well-trained  men  and  women  inspectors, 
numerous  enough  to  be  able  to  complete  a  thorough  examination  of  the 
whole  town  in  a  period  of  not  more  than  three  years.  This  work  not  only 
enables  the  municipal  authority  to  effect  a  greater  improvement  in  the 
conditions  affecting  the  life  of  the  people  than  it  can  effect  by  the  doing 
of  any  other  one  kind  of  work,  but,  too,  it  is  necessary  to  enable  the 


36 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


authorities  and  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants  to  know  what  other  kinds  of 
work  are  needed. 

Where,  as  in  Bavaria,  Essen,  Hamburg,  the  Rhine  Provinces  of  Prussia, 
the  system  of  continuous  inspection  has  been  adopted,  it  has  been  almost 
always  found  that  more  than  80  per  cent  of  the  evils  which  have  been 
lowering  physical  or  moral  health  or  both,  are  at  once  removed  by  either 
landlord  or  tenant  when  notice  is  called  to  them,  and  that  only  in  a  very 
small  proportion  of  cases  is  it  necessary  to  enforce  improvements  by  the 
use  of  legal  measures.  The  proportion  of  cases  in  which  compulsion  is 
needed  rapidly  diminishes.  Thus  in  Essen,  where  it  was  no  less  than 
50  per  cent  in  the  year  1899,  it  was  only  3.16  per  cent  last  year.  The 
effect  of  inspection  in  calling  attention  to  other  reforms  in  addition  to  the 
improvement  of  dwellings  is  shown  by  the  report  of  the  inspectors  in 
the  little  town  of  Bensheim.  They  state  that  the  dwellings-question 
is  in  great  measure  an  education-question,  and  that  in  many  cases  in 
which  the  defectiveness  of  the  buildings  would  justify  their  being  emptied, 
the  authorities,  having  regard  to  the  quality  of  the  tenants,  abstain  from 
from  taking  that  course,  so  that  the  first  process  of  reform  has  to  be  the 
improvement  of  the  tenants.  The  effect  of  all  the  influences  brought 
to  bear  on  landlords,  tenants  and  dwellings  in  Wurttemberg  is  so  encour- 
aging that  the  inspectors  there  say  that  they  look  forward  to  the  over- 
coming of  all  difficulties  respecting  the  housing  of  the  population  in  "a 
not  too  long  time." 

Dresden  has  a  population  of  over  400,000  persons,  and  contains  136,000 
dwellings,  yet  the  inspectors  have  made  detailed  plans  of  every  dwelling, 
and  they  believe  that  in  the  future  the  inspection  of  all  the  dwellings  in 
the  town  can  be  completed  within  half  a  year.  They  report  that  inspec- 
tion is  more  and  more  welcomed  both  by  house  owners  and  tenants. 

American  towns  are  giving  so  much  more  attention  to  the  subject  of 
town-plaiming  than  our  British  towns  are  giving  that  we  have  much  more 
to  learn  from  you  than  you  can  learn  from  us.  The 
American  only  matter  connected  with  this  subject  which  I  will 

Town  mention  is  the  desirability  of  ascertaining,  by  consulting 

Planning  students  of  nations  other  than  one's  own,  whether 

what  seem  to  us  unmitigated  evOs  in  our  towns  are 
in  reality  wholly  evils.  In  this  country  the  vast  districts  in  our  manu- 
facturing towns  which  are  filled  with  narrow  streets,  on  each  side  of  which 
are  rows  of  mean-looking  two-storj-ed  workmen's  cottages,  have  seemed 
to  Enghsh  students  of  housing  so  thoroughly  depressing  and  imwhole- 
some  that  we  have  most  of  us  envied  Continental  towns  their  much  wider 
streets  and  have  been  convinced  that  one  of  the  first  uses  we  ought  to 
make  of  the  power  of  preparing  town-plans  must  be  to  provide  all  new 
parts  of  towns  with  much  wider  streets.  But  lately  we  have  learned  from 
the  closer  study  of  Continental  towns,  and  we  have  also  been  told  by 
Continental  students  of  our  subject,  that  the  wide,  costly  street  necessarily 
involves  the  erection  of  tall  houses  at  each  side  of  it,  and  that  the  necessity 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


37 


of  solid  building  for  the  lower  parts  of  tall  houses,  and  the  cost  of  the 
wide  street  make  rents  very  high  and  lead  to  far  more  overcrowding  of 
rooms  than  exists  in  our  towns.  The  German  system  has  led  to  Berlin's 
having  a  population  of  about  i6o  per  acre  while  London  has  only  about 
62  per  acre,  and  houses  and  land  at  distances  of  from  three  to  ten  miles 
from  the  center  of  Berlin  cost  from  three  to  ten  times  as  much  as  do 
houses  and  land  at  the  same  distances  from  the  center  of  London. 

We  are  therefore  driven  to  the  belief  that,  while  we  must  make  the 
new  streets  which  are  likely  to  have  much  traffic 
The  Width  through  them  wider  than  we  have  made  such  streets 

of  Streets  the  past,  and  must  intersperse  playgrounds  and 

planted  open  spaces  among  cottages,  we  must  keep 
our  "residential"  streets  as  narrow  as  possible. 

There  is  a  strong  movement  in  Germany  in  favor  of  much  narrower 
streets  in  cases  where  width  is  not  needed  for  traffic,  and  of  lower  houses. 
I  will  refer  to  only  one  more  subject:  Doubtless  the  members  of  your 
societies  find,  as  the  members  of  our  town-improvement  societies  do,  that 
it  is  most  difficult  to  make  them  strong  enough  in  number  to  command 
the  attention  of  the  civic  authorities.  The  question,  "How  can  we 
obtain  more  members?"  is  therefore  of  great  importance.  I  think  that 
there  are  signs  in  this  country  that  the  various  branches  of  the  Christian 
Church  will  find  themselves  compelled  by  the  need  to  retain  the  respect 
of  the  community  to  help  our  societies  by  advocating  social  reform  vigor- 
ously. 

It  is  inconceivable  that  drunkenness,  sexual  licentiousness,  lack  of 
self-respect  and  respect  for  others  should  not  be  common  in  towns 
which  are  either  ugly  or  unwholesome.  I  lose  few  opportunities  of 
stating  that  an  English  judge,  the  late  Sir  W.  Day,  said  that  it  is  no 
wonder  that  drunkenness  is  common  in  Manchester,  because  "to  get 
drunk  is  the  shortest  way  out  of  Manchester. "  We  have  a  right,  I  think, 
to  demand  the  zealous  coSperation  of  all  the  Churches  and  many  clergy- 
men will  certainly  desire  that  we  shall  obtain  it. 

From  John  S.  Nettleford,  Winterboume,  Edgbaston  Park  Road, 
Birmingham,  we  received  the  following :  I  have  been  very  much  interested 
by  the  papers  you  have  sent  me  relative  to  the  National  Municipal  League 
movement,  and  only  regret  that  my  engagements  here  make  it  impossible 
for  me  to  accept  your  flattering  invitation  to  present  a  paper  at  your 
annual  meeting  in  November. 

What  particularly  strikes  me  is  your  Pittsburgh  Survey,  and  the  fact 
that  your  leading  business  men  see  the  advantage  to  themselves  as  well 
as  to  the  community  of  establishing  the  very  best  hygienic  conditions  for 
all  classes.  More  important  still,  it  begins  to  be  recognized  that  to  be 
successful  such  work  must  be  carried  out  on  sound  business  lines.  Dealing 
more  particularly  with  "the  municipalities'  interest  in  housing,"  the  sub- 
ject naturally  falls  into  two  parts — slum  reform  and  slum  prevention 


38 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


1.  Slum  Reform.  Up  to  a  few  years  ago  the  activity  of  our  English 
municipahties  was  wrongly  directed.    Insanitary  areas  were  bought  up 

at  a  profit  to  the  owners  and  a  loss  to  the  public. 
Slum  Reform     ^^'^"^^  were  demolished  and  new  dwellings  erected. 

Even  when  this  policy  is  well  carried  out  it  entails  enor- 
mous expense  on  the  ratepayers,  and  the  public  funds 
are  insufficient  to  deal  with  more  than  a  small  part  of  the  area  involved. 
Public  opinion  is  now,  however,  taking  the  view  that  the  duty  of  local 
authorities  is  to  supervise  house  building  and  not  to  undertake  it  them- 
selves. But  a  more  generally  beneficial  policy  is  for  the  municipality 
to  call  upon  the  owners  of  insanitary  property  to  repair  the  same  at  their 
own  expense  or  else  to  demolish  it.  This  places  the  responsibility  on 
the  right  shoulders.  It  prevents  large  profits  being  made  out  of  insanitary 
property,  and  teaches  owners  to  keep  property  in  habitable  repair  for 
their  own  sakes  as  well  as  their  tenants. 

2.  Slum  Prevention.  So  far,  this  has  been  attempted  on  more  or  less 
philanthropic  lines  by  encouraging  and  assisting  the  building  of  houses 

by  semi-philanthropic  trusts  and  companies,  and  by 
Slum  local  authorities.    No  attempt  has  been  made  to 

Prevention  encourage  and  control  in  a  comprehensive  manner  the 
very  much  larger  number  of  people  engaged  in  house 
building  on  ordinary  business  lines.  The  operations  of  this  large  body 
of  house  builders  are  at  least  ten  times  as  large  as  those  of  all  the  semi- 
philanthropic  societies  and  local  authorities  put  together,  and  must  of 
necessity  always  be  so. 

It  is  in  this  direction  that  English  town  planners  see  their  opportunity 
and  find  most  encouragement  for  the  future.  English  by-laws  have  hitherto 
failed  to  stop  land  sweating  and  jerry  building,  whilst  they  hamper  and 
harass  public  spirited  house  purveyors. 

Town  planners  hope  that  local  authorities  may  have  power  given  them 
to  meet  this  class  of  builders  by  reducing  the  cost  of  estate  development, 
while  carefully  safeguarding  the  public  health.  They  look  forward  to 
restricting  the  number  of  houses  per  acre  and  providing  adequate  open 
spaces  and  playgrounds.  It  is  a  legacy  from  the  conditions  of  the  past 
that  our  population  is  overcrowded  on  expensive  land.  We  must  bear 
in  mind  that  there  is  only  a  given  amount  of  light  and  air  per  acre.  Thanks 
to  our  modem  means  of  transit,  the  areas  of  cities  may  now  be  considerably 
enlarged.  It  is  the  duty  of  town  planners  to  spread  the  people  out, 
and  at  the  same  time,  to  do  so  according  to  a  well  advised  and  harmonious 
scheme. 

Let  us  remember  that  foresight  in  town  planning  should  mean  economy 
for  the  ratepayers  as  well  as  health  and  convenience.  It  should  certainly 
appeal  to  a  business  community  on  economic  grounds.  Our  aim  should 
be  to  make  it  possible  for  house  purveyors  to  provide  the  poorer  classes 
with  healthy  cheerful  homes  at  rents  within  their  means,  and  yet  receive 
themselves  a  fair  return  on  the  capital  invested. 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


39 


George  Cadbury  writes  from  Boumville,  near  Birmingham,  Eng- 
land: I  hope  that  at  the  meetings  of  the  National  Municipal  League 
and  American  Civic  Association  at  Pittsburgh  special  attention  will  be 
given  to  Town  Planning.  It  will  take  generations  to  undo  the  effects 
of  the  careless  way  in  which  towns  have  been  planned,  but  an  immed- 
iate remedy  might  be  secured  by  making  it  compulsory  that  no  new 
town  or  a  new  suburb  of  a  town  should  be  laid  out  without  the  plans 
being  submitted'to  a  central  authority  so  as  to  secure  open  spaces,  gardens 
to  the  cottages,  etc. 

Dr.  Peter  Roberts'  letter  is  as  follows:    Pittsburg  is  typical  of 
American  industrial  life.    Here  representatives  of  all  European  nations 
form  a  cosmopolitan  army,  marshalled  every  mom- 
Pittsburgh  ing  by  a  thousand  gongs,  whose  harsh  notes  none  fail 

a  Tj^ical  to  understand.    The  organizing  genius  of  America  sets 

this  polyglot  mass  to  work,  producing  wealth  which 
in  magnitude,  stands  matchless  in  the  history  of  the 
world.  English  is  the  language  of  the  office  and  the  administrative 
force,  but  as  we  descend  the  industrial  pyramid,  a  Babel  of  tongues 
are  heard  in  the  lowest  stratum.  The  dirty,  disagreeable  and  dangerous 
tasks  fall  upon  the  Slav  and  Lithuanian,  the  Italian  and  the  Greek;  and 
these  people  pay  the  major  part  of  the  vicarious  sacrifice  incident  to 
our  industrial  life. 

Serious  sequences  follow  these  conditions.  The  hospitals  are  filled 
with  peoples  of  foreign  tongues  where  they  are  patched  up  and  sent  forth 
crippled  and  maimed  to  continue  the  struggle  for  subsistence.  Many 
foreigners  lie  in  consecrated  ground,  the  victims  of  carelessness  and  rush 
in  industrial  plants.  How  many  are  killed,  how  many  are  incapacitated, 
there  is  no  way  of  knowing;  for  many  of  the  incapacitated  are  shipped 
back  to  the  fatherland,  and  the  widows  and  orphans  who  mourn  the 
dead  weep  on  the  hills  of  Galicia  or  in  the  fields  of  Italy;  their  wail  is 
three  thousand  miles  removed  from  the  heart  of  humane  America. 

These  people  get  the  lowest  wage:  $1.35  and  $1.50  a  day,  and  living 
in  Pittsburgh !  Is  it  any  wonder  they  huddle  together  in  cramped  quar- 
ters where  dirt  and  vermin  gather  and  where  the  strong  bodies  of  men, 
raised  in  the  simple  life  of  agricultural  communities  of  Europe,  break 
down.  If  the  laws  regulating  the  lodging  conditions  of  horses  and  cows 
in  Pennsylvania  were  enforced  in  the  crowded  sections  of  the  Iron  City, 
where  foreigners  live,  they  would  not  die  of  fever  and  disease  as  they  do. 

And  what  is  there  in  this  rich  city  that  breaks  the  dull  monotony  of 
the  foreigner's  lot?  Drink,  drink,  that  is  all.  It  is  the  only  outlet; 
cut  it  off,  and  there  is  nothing  left  this  indispensable  fertilizer  of  Pittsburgh 
wealth  but  sleep,  which  is  far  from  peaceful  under  conditions  above 
stated. 

This  sluggish  mass  of  humanity,  so  docile,  so  patient,  so  uncomplaining, 
does  not  Pittsburgh  owe  something  to  it  ?    Why  should  not  his  sufferings 


40 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


and  death  be  recorded;  why  should  he  be  left  the  victim  of  unscrupulous 
landlords,  industrial  runners,  and  legal  pirates?  Is  there  not  a  body  of 
philanthropic  men  in  the  city,  ready  and  able  to  champion  this  man 
and  see  that  industrial  and  social  justice  be  done  him?  In  his  dirt  and 
beer,  we  have  forgotten  that  he  has  an  sesthetic  side.  Give  him  an 
opportunity  to  sing  and  dance,  to  exhibit  his  works  of  art  and  tell  us  tales 
of  his  youth,  and  the  life  of  Slav  and  Lett,  of  Italian  and  Greek,  will  be 
happier;  and  the  reaction  will  be  felt  in  the  life  of  this  thriving  industrial 
center. 

TUESDAY  MORNING  SESSION. 

Tuesday,  November  17,  1908. 

The  third  session  of  the  convention  was  held  in  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce  rooms.  The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Mr. 
H.  W.  D.  English  of  Pittsburgh,  former  president  of  the  Pitts- 
burgh Chamber  of  Commerce. 

The  Chairman:  I  have  been  asked  to  preside  at  this  meeting  until  the 
arrival  of  Mr.  Deming,  chairman  of  the  executive  committee.  This  is  the 
annual  business  meeting,  as  you  know,  of  the  National  Municipal  League 
and  the  first  business  will  be  the  report  of  the  secretary. 

The  Secretary:  Mr.  Chairman:  The  report  of  the  secretary  will  be  very 
brief.  His  review  which  was  given  yesterday  afternoon  covers  that  phase 
of  the  work  which  relates  to  the  activities  of  the  League  in  connection 
with  the  development  of  the  cities  throughout  the  past  year.  The  report 
prepared  in  abstract  yesterday  afternoon  will  be  printed  in  full  in  the  Pro- 
ceedings which  are  sent  to  all  the  members.  And  let  me  take  this  oppor- 
tunity of  saying  that  everything  that  is  said  and  done  at  the  annual  meet- 
ings of  the  National  Municipal  League  is  stenographically  reported,  and  after 
being  carefully  edited  is  printed  in  the  annual  volumes,  and  these  volumes 
are  sent  to  the  members  of  the  League.  It  is  interesting  to  note  in  this 
connection  that  these  volumes  have  been  very  widely  used  and  that  the 
earlier  editions  are  all  exhausted  and  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  them.  So 
any  of  you  who  possess  copies  of  other  volumes  better  keep  them,  for  two 

reasons.  First  of  all,  they  are  valuable  for  themselves, 
The  and  secondly  they  have  a  very  considerable  commercial 

Proceedings.       value,  originally  selling  for  a  dollar  and  a  half,  some  are 

now  bringing  seven  dollars  and  eight  dollars.  So  you 
see  you  have  a  very  good  investment  whichever  way  you  look  at  it.  The 
second  phase  relating  to  the  detail  work  of  the  League  of  the  past  year  will 
be  covered  by  the  executive  committee  report  which  Mr.  Deming  will 
present  upon  his  arrival.  That  will  go  into  the  details  of  membership 
and  the  various  activities  of  the  league.  Therefore  I  will  not  trespass 
upon  that  portion  of  his  work. 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


41 


The  treasurer's  report  which  will  be  presented  by  Mr.  Burnham  of  Phila- 
delphia will  give  you  in  detail  the  work  which  has  been  done  along  those 
lines  during  the  past  year. 

I  want  to  say,  that  immediately  following  this  meeting  there  will  be  a 
discussion  of  two  important  problems  in  which  all  who  are  present  are 
invited  to  remain  here  and  participate  if  the  spirit  so  moves  them.  And 
I  want  to  take  this  opportunity,  while  I  am  on  my  feet,  to  bid  you 
again  to  spread  the  news  that  all  the  meetings,  both  of  the  League 
and  of  the  Association,  are  open  to  the  public.  I  gather  from  some  of 
the  inquiries  made  of  me  by  Pittsburgh  people  that  they  are  under  the 
impression  that  our  meetings  are  executive  and  not 
Open  open  to  the  general  public.    That  is  not  so.    We  are 

Meetings  very  glad  to  have  with  us  at  all  our  sessions  all  who  are 

interested  in  any  phase  of  the  municipal  problem.  The 
question  of  participation  in  discussion  is  dependent  upon  the  time  at  our 
disposal.  Some  of  the  programs  are  very  full,  too  full,  some  people  say, 
but  you  must  remember  that  this  municipal  problem  has  so  many  phases, 
and  there  are  so  many  active  men  and  women  who  are  participating  in 
its  solution  that  it  is  impossible  to  make  up  a  program  of  moderate  size 
if  it  is  expected  to  cover  all  the  various  features.  The  same  is  true  of  all 
the  work  of  the  League. 

The  Chairman:  The  next  business  will  be  the  report  of  the  treasurer, 
to  be  read  by  Mr.  George  Burnham,  Jr.,  of  Philadelphia. 

Mr.  Burnham  then  presented  the  following  report. 

The  fiscal  year  of  the  League  begins  April  i ,  due  to  our  former  custom 
of  holding  the  annual  meeting  in  May.  It  is  therefore  impossible  to 
present  a  complete  report  at  this  time  that  is  "up  to 
Treasurer's  date."  FortheyearendingMarch3i,  i9o8,thereceipts 
Report  were  $10,926.89.    This  includes  a  balance  over  from 

the  previous  year  of  $924.46.  The  expenditures  were 
$9758.76,  leaving  a  balance  on  hand,  April  i,  of  $1168.13. 

For  the  current  year,  up  to  November  12,  the  receipts  have  been 
$6031.95  and  the  expenditures  $6159.69,  the  balance  in  your  treasurer's 
hands  being  $1040.39.  So  far  as  your  treasurer  can  judge  the  revenues  of 
the  League  will  be  somewhat  less  than  last  year  and  it  is  hoped  that  the 
expenditures  will  not  be  materially  larger  than  heretofore.  The  business 
depression,  which  we  all  believe  is  disappearing,  was  probably  responsible 
for  the  slight  decrease  in  our  receipts.  Apparently  it  did  not  have  the 
same  effect  on  our  expenditures. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

George  Burnham,  Jr., 
Treasurer. 


42  PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 

The  Report  for  the  year  April  i,  1907,  to  April  i,  1908,  is  as  follows: 

Treasurer's  Report 
george  burnham,  jr.,  treasurer 
In  account  with  the  National  Municipal  League  April  i,  1908. 

RECEIPTS 

Balance,  April  I,  1907   $924.46 

Membership  Dues   5766. 60 

Contributions   3851.05 

Sales  of  "  Proceedings  "  etc   384.78 

$10,926 . 89 

EXPENDITURES 


News  Clippings  

Traveling  Expenses  

Clipping  Sheet  

Publication  of  Proceedings. . 

Baldwin  Prize  

Harvard  Fund  

General  Expenses  

Refund  of  Dues  (twice  paid) . 


Note  due  July  i,  1908,  reimbursements  for  bill 
twice  paid  


$2832 

.29 

I47I 

•  42 

3845 

.64 

129 

.04 

263.68 

194, 

24 

397' 

,  00 

100. 

,  00 

170, 

97 

344. 

48 

10. 

00 

$1095. 

13 

73 

.  00 

$1168. 

13 

$9758.76 


II68. 13 

$10,926 . 89 

The  Chairman:  You  have  heard  the  report  of  the  treasurer,  what  is 
your  pleasure. 

Dr.  Chirurg  :  I  move  that  the  report  be  accepted  and  approved. 
The  motion  was  seconded  and  prevailed.' 

The  Chairman  :  In  the  absence  of  Mr.  Deming,  who  has  not  arrived  yet, 
we  will  pass  the  report  of  the  Executive  Committee  and  go  on  to  the  elec- 

1  On  motion  of  Mr.  Burnham,  the  Executive  Committee  has  provided  for  an  audit  of  this 
account  at  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year  March  31,  by  a  professional  accountant. — EorroR. 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


43 


tion  of  officers  and  executive  committee,  and  I  will  call  on  Mr.  John  A- 
Butler  of  Milwaukee,  chairman  of  the  committee  on  nominations  if  he  has 
the  report. 

Mr.  Butler,  Milwaukee:  Mr.  Chairman  and  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  On 
behalf  of  the  nominating  committee  I  beg  to  submit  the  following  report : 

FOR  OFFICERS  FOR  THE  YEAR  1908-1909 

President — Charles  J.  Bonaparte,  Baltimore. 
First  Vice-President — Charles  Richardson,  Philadelphia. 
Second  Vice-President — Thomas  N.  Strong,  Portland,  Ore. 
Third  Vice-President — Henry  L.  McCune,  Kansas  City. 
Fourth  Vice-President — Walter  L.  Fisher,  Chicago. 
Fifth  Vice-President — George  W.  Guthrie,  Pittsburgh. 
Treasurer — George  Burnham,  Jr.,  Philadelphia. 
Secretary — Clinton  Rogers  Woodruff,  Philadelphia. 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE 

Horace  E.  Deming,  Chairman,  New  York  City. 

James  Phinney  Baxter,  Portland,  Me. 

Robert  Treat  Paine,  Jr.,  Boston. 

Harvey  Stuart  Chase,  Boston. 

Albert  Bushnell  Hart,  Cambridge. 

Charles  S.  DeForest,  New  Haven. 

Dudley  Tibbetts,  Troy. 

George  Haven  Putnam,  New  York. 

Charles  H.  Ingersoll,  New  York. 

William  G.  Low,  New  York. 

Norman  Hapgood,  New  York  City. 

E.  H.  Prentice,  New  York  City. 

M.  N.  Baker,  New  York  City. 

Frederic  Almy,  Buffalo. 

Merwin  K.  Hart,  Utica. 

Clarence  L.  Harper,  Philadelphia. 

Thomas  Raeburn  White,  Philadelphia. 

J.  Horace  McFarland,  Harrisburg. 

Oliver  McClintock  Pittsburgh 

H.  D.  W.  English,  Pittsburgh. 

William  P.  Bancroft,  Wilmington. 

Elliot  Hunt  Pendleton,  Cincinnati,  O. 

Morton  D.  Hull,  Chicago. 

J.  L.  Hudson,  Detroit. 

John  A.  Butler,  Milwaukee. 

David  P.  Jones,  Minneapolis. 


44 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


DwiGHT  F.  Davis,  St.  Louis. 
Frank  N.  Hartwell,  Louisville. 
Ernest  C.  Kontz,  Atlanta. 
James  H.  Causey,  Denver. 
Erastus  Brainerd,  Seattle. 
Frank  J.  Symmes,  San  Francisco. 
Charles  D.  Willard,  Los  Angeles. 

And  I  take  the  liberty  of  suggesting  that  the  leading  thoughts  of  the 
league  ought  to  be  applied  to  all  of  our  great  cities,  and  I  think  in  the  future 
a  still  more  careful  canvass  ought  to  be  made  of  the  convention  in  order 
to  make  additions  to  the  executive  committee  of  active,  militant,  vigil- 
ant reformers  to  carry  the  doctrine  abroad  through  the  country. 

The  Chairman:  You  have  heard  the  report  of  the  nominating  com- 
mittee. What  is  your  pleasure  as  to  the  acceptance  of  the  report  and  the 
election  of  the  officers  named? 

Upon  motion  the  report  was  adopted  and  the  officers  therein  named 
were  duly  elected. 

The  Chairman:  Mr.  Deming  having  arrived  we  will  now  go  back  to  the 
executive  committee  and  ask  Mr.  Deming  to  present  his  report. 

Mr.  Deming:  Mr.  Chairman:  On  March  31  last,  when  our  fiscal  year 
ended,  we  had  1442  enrolled  members  and  90  contributing  members 
That  was  a  net  gain  during  the  last  fiscal  year  of  184.  Since  the  31st  of 
March  up  to  the  first  of  November  of  this  year  we  have  made  a  further 

net  gain  of  76  members.  Up  to  the  first  of  September 
Net  Gains  of  the  current  year  our  rate  of  progress  over  the  year 

before  was  nearly  50  per  cent.  In  September  we  fell 
off  badly,  and  in  October,  when  the  presidential  campaign  was  on  we  made 
a  slump;  we  scarcely  increased  at  all.  This' illustrates  once  more  that  if 
you  have  a  national  campaign  going  on  at  the  same  time  that  you  attempt 
to  have  a  municipal  campaign,  the  municipal  campaign  is  usually  over- 
whelmed. 

Our  affiliated  membership  consists  as  you  know  of  clubs  and  organi- 
zations that  join  us  as  organized  bodies.  We  had  a  year  ago  one  hundred 
and  thirty-five  such  organizations  on  our  roll.  Their  membership  was  in 
round  numbers  one  hundred  and  eleven  thousands.  We  have  now  one 
hundred  and  fifty-four  such  affiliated  members,  with  an  enrolled  member- 
ship in  round  numbers  of  one  hundred  and  forty-six  thousands.  Besides 
those  we  have  mentioned,  there  are  thirty  organizations  whose  member- 
ships we  have  not  yet  been  able  to  verify.  To  have  got  this  increase  in 
cooperation  and  active  sympathy  with  our  work  on  the  part  of  so  many 
organizations  throughout  the  country  is  extremely  encouraging. 

As  to  our  finances,  the  story  is  very  simple.  During  the  last  fiscal  year 
our  receipts  were  approximately  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  our  expendi- 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


45 


tures  were  approximately  ten  thousand  dollars,  we  carrying  over  a  work- 
ing balance  from  the  year  before.  Since  the  first  of  April  we  have  received 
about  six  thousand  dollars  and  have  spent  about  six  thousand  dollars. 
We  usually  spend  pretty  nearly  up  to  the  limit  of  all  we  receive.  We  think 
that  is  our  duty.    That  is  why  we  are  given  the  money. 

You  may  be  interested  to  hear  something  of  some  of  the  results  of 
the  work  of  the  League  as  the  news  of  it  comes  to  the  central  office,  and 
a  little  of  the  methods  that  we  use  in  some  branches  of 
Results  of  the    our  work. 

League's  Work  We  have  what  we  call  a  clipping  service.  Some  of 
you  may  not  know  what  that  means,  but  if  you  will 
look  at  a  batch  of  things  like  that  (displaying  some  clippings)  you  will 
understand.  There  were  seven  of  those  sent  out  this  last  year;  we 
could  easily  send  out  seventy  if  we  had  the  means.  Now,  each  of  these 
sets  of  clippings  contains  in  convenient  shape  editorials,  news  items,  short 
quotations — pertinent  quotations  from  the  speeches  and  writings  of  dis- 
tinguished men,  approving  or  illustrating  our  principles,  extracts  from 
papers  that  have  appeared  in  our  proceedings,  crisp  comments  upon 
the  various  phases  of  our  work.  These  clippings  are  sent  to  the  news- 
papers all  over  the  country.  Does  this  do  any  good.'  If  you  should  sit 
in  our  central  office  and  read  the  editorials  and  the  news  columns  of  the 
newspapers  which  are  received  there  from  every  part  of  the  country  you 
would  find  that  the  press  is  each  year  giving  more  publicity  to  our  ideas 
and  more  and  more  advocating  them  in  their  respective  communities.  It 
is  a  most  valuable  thing,  this  clipping  service,  and  it  is  producing  most 
marked  results. 

There  is  another  thing  we  have  been  able  to  do  through  the  generosity 

of  the  wife  of  one  of  our  members.    We  have  been  giving  each  year  a  prize 

appropriately  named  the  Baldwin  prize  after  Mr.  Wil- 

T»  ij  •  liam  H.  Baldwin,  whose  untimely  death  many  of  us 
The  Baldwin  r        u  *  t      j-    ^.i     i  <-  j 

mourn,  for  the  best  essay  on  a  subject  directly  related 

to  city  government  in  the  United  States.  The  compet- 
itors are  confined  to  undergraduates  at  colleges  where 
there  is  a  recognized  course  of  instruction  in  municipal  government.  This 
is  now  the  fourth  year  that  this  competition  has  been  held.  It  has  aroused 
a  great  interest  in  municipal  questions  among  the  students  in  a  number  of 
our  different  colleges  and  has  already  produced  a  marked  influence  on  the 
instruction  the  colleges  are  giving  in  civics  and  particularly  in  municipal 
government.  The  terms  of  the  competition  and  the  advertisement  of 
the  fact  of  the  competition  are  in  charge  of  our  sub-committee  on  instruc- 
tion in  the  colleges  in  municipal  government.  That  committee  is  each 
year  sending  inquiries  to  different  colleges  and  universities  to  ascertain 
whether  they  have  these  courses  and  their  students  can  compete  for  the 
prize.  The  growth  of  college  and  university  instruction  in  municipal 
government  and  of  the  demand  for  such  instruction  are  most  gratifying. 
There  will  be  a  special  report  by  the  committee  on  that  subject  later.  I 
think  you  will  be  interested  in  the  topic  which  the  executive  committee 


46 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


has  selected  for  this  year's  prize.  There  is  nothing  particularly  academic 
about  this  year's  topic: 

"A  STUDY  OF  THE  PRACTICAL  OPERATIONS  OF  GOVERNMENT  m 
SOME  LARGE  AMERICAN  CITY." 

Competitors  may  select,  as  their  field  of  study,  any  city  of  the  United 
States  having  a  population  of  not  less  than  300,000;  essays  must  not  ex- 
ceed 10,000  words  in  length;  and  it  is  suggested  that  the  essays  may  advan- 
tageously deal  with  the  following  topics: 

1.  A  very  brief  introductory  outline  of  the  city's  political  develop- 
ment. 

2.  The  relation  of  the  city  to  the  state,  including  a  study  of  the  city 
charter,  a  summary  of  the  powers  possessed  by  the  city  as  a  corporation, 
and  a  statement  of  those  municipal  functions  which  are  directly  exercised 
by  the  state  authorities. 

3.  A  sketch  of  the  present  framework  of  the  city  government,  including 
a  discussion  of  the  division  of  powers  among  the  various  organs  of  govern- 
ment, executive  and  legislative;  and  a  study  of  the  relations  of  these  organs. 

4.  An  examination  of  the  administrative  service  of  the  city,  the  struc- 
ture and  functions  of  the  various  city  departments,  the  methods  of  appoint- 
ment and  removal  from  office  and  so  forth. 

5.  The  methods  of  nomination  and  election  to  elective  city  offices;  the 
means  whereby  the  accountability  of  officials  to  the  electors  is  secured; 
and  the  relation  of  the  aims  and  methods  of  local  party  organizations  to 
these  features.  When  a  young  man  can  answer  these  five  questions  he 
will  have  had  a  pretty  good  course  in  municipal  government.  They  are 
questions  which  every  citizen  should  ask  and  answer  in  regard  to  his 
own  city. 

6.  A  statement  of  the  writer's  own  views  as  to  the  governmental  powers 
which  a  city  should  possess,  the  framework  of  government  that  would  be 
most  advantageous,  the  proper  methods  of  selecting  public  officials,  the 
proper  relations  between  the  various  organs  performing  governmental 
functions;  and  the  means  by  which  the  suggested  improvements  may  be 
achieved.  Due  consideration  should  be  given  in  this  part  of  the  essay 
to  the  feasibility  and  advisability  of  municipal  reorganization  along  the 
lines  of  the  Galveston,  Des  Moines,  Newport  and  other  plans. 

The  executive  committee  believes  that  intelligent  answers  to  these  ques- 
tions by  a  number  of  students  in  different  colleges  and  universities  would 
be  of  great  practical  benefit  in  very  many  ways. 

The  requests  that  we  have  been  receiving  for  several  years  not  only 
from  this  country  but  from  other  countries  for  our  books  and  leaflets, 
for  copies  of  our  proceedings,  for  our  committee  reports,  for  general  infor- 
mation and  advice  in  our  chosen  field  have  become  so  numerous  that 
we  are  simply  imable  to  respond.      We  have  not  the  means  of  re- 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


47 


spending.  We  have  not  the  office  force  to  respond.  These  requests 
come  from  our  own  dependencies;  from  cities  in  India; 
■n  .  from  Germany,  from  France,  from  Spain.    They  come 

"  from  numerous  Hbraries,  from  hundreds  of  persons 

Help  interested  in  the  study  of  municipal  government.  The 

demand  for  our  publications  has  exhausted  all  the 
editions  of  the  earlier  volumes  of  our  annual  meetings.  We  can  no  longer 
supply  them  and  we  receive  frequent  expressions  of  regret  on  the  part  of 
those  who  wish  to  study  the  various  phases  of  the  city  problem  that  they 
can  no  longer  obtain  any  printed  copies  of  our  proceedings. 

Let  me  just  give  you  some  specimens  of  the  demands  for  information 
and  for  our  literature  here  in  this  country.  Here  is  a  man  who  writes  from 
one  of  the  smaller  cities  of  Massachusetts  asking  us  to  supply  him  with 
certain  documents  named,  in  order  that  he  may  spread  the  knowledge 
of  our  principles  and  persuade  additional  members  to  join  us. 

Here  is  a  bulletin  from  a  board  of  trade  of  one  of  our  smaller  cities  speak- 
ing with  pride  of  the  fact  that  it  is  an  affiliated  member,  and  calling  upon 
the  citizens  of  the  town  to  spread  the  ideas  we  are  advocating.  Here  is  a 
letter  from  a  little  city  in  South  Carolina  in  which  we  are  thanked  for 
having  responded  to  a  prior  request  for  certain  publications  and  saying 
that  by  their  aid  the  writer  has  been  able  to  arouse  a  degree  of  public 
spirit  that  he  hopes  will  produce  and  have  a  lasting  effect  upon  that 
little  city.  Here  is  a  letter  from  Nebraska,  from  an  institution  of  learn- 
ing out  there  asking  for  some  of  our  documents,  naming  the  documents, 
in  order  that  the  students  of  that  university  may  have  an  opportunity 
to  get  the  information  which  we  are  furnishing.  Here  is  a  letter  from  a 
city  in  Missouri  inclosing  a  clipping  from  a  local  newspaper  showing  how, 
inspired  by  our  Baldwin  prize,  a  resident  there  has  instituted  a  series  of 
prizes  to  be  competed  for  by  the  seniors  in  the  high  school  on  practical 
civic  topics  affecting  the  home  city.  Here  is  a  letter  from  a  little  city  in 
New  Jersey  saying  that  the  writer  has  observed  the  plan  for  municipal 
accounting  that  we  have  been  advocating — and  we  were  practically  the 
first  organization  in  this  country  to  do  so — how  it  has  worked  in  a  neigh- 
boring city  and  it  has  worked  so  well  he  proposes  to  see — and  he  is  an 
alderman,  perhaps  he  can  do  something — if  he  cannot  have  it  introduced 
in  his  own  city.  Here  is  a  letter  from  Cuba,  announcing  that  the  projected 
municipal  law  which  has  been  recently  submitted  there  to  be  acted  upon 
"is  founded  upon  the  modem  current  of  scientific  ideas,  and  particularly 
upon  the  sound  principles  of  local  government  endorsed  by  the  National 
Municipal  League  of  the  United  States.  "  And  here  is  a  letter  from  a  little 
town  in  the  interior  of  Illinois  expressing  what  would  be  surprising  to  us 
if  we  had  not  had  so  many  similar  instances  in  our  experience  that  the 
writer  has  used  up  all  the  pamphlets  and  literature  that  had  been  sent  in 
response  to  previous  requests  in  spite  of  exercising  the  greatest  care  and 
discrimination  and  could  we  possibly  let  him  have  so  and  so  many  more 
to  be  used  for  these  purposes. 


48 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


I  might  go  on  indefinitely,  but  enough  has  already  been  said  to  give 
some  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  field  and  of  the  agencies  that  we  are  employ- 
ing, and  some  idea  also  of  the  reasons  for  our  hope  and  belief  that  the 
work  we  are  doing  is  worth  while. 

I  just  spoke  incidentally  of  our  system  of  municipal  accounting.  It 
was  gratifying  to  us  to  see  in  the  first  report  of  the  recently  established 
Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Municipal  Statistics  a  recognition  of  the  leader- 
ship of  the  League  in  that  important  matter.  We  expected  to  publish  this 
year  a  volume  which  would  embody  the  fundamental  principles  of  the 
system  of  municipal  accounting  the  National  Municipal  League  has  been 
advocating  for  so  many  years.  It  was  intended  that  the  book  should  set 
forth  in  simple  and  readable  form  the  reasons  for  and  the  advantages  of 
such  a  system.  When  the  able  and  brilliant  editor  whom  we  had  secured 
had  the  book  about  half  done  he  was  stricken  with  typhoid  fever.  In  the 
death  of  Philip  Loring  Allen,  the  author  of  that  stimulating  book,  America's 
Awakening,  the  country  has  suffered  a  great  loss.  The  publication  of  the 
League's  volume  upon  municipal  accounting  has  been  postponed  until 
another  year. 

The  volume  containing  the  League's  "Municipal  Program"  has  been 
out  of  print  for  some  time.  You  may  remember  that  at  our  last  annual 
meeting  we  announced  that  a  new  book  was  in  preparation  to  take  its 
place.    This  book  is  finished  and  about  to  go  to  press. 

We  keep  a  card  catalogue  at  the  central  office  of  all  the  various  sub- 
associations,  etc.,  in  the  country  that  are  engaged  in  civic  work,  and  in 
June  we  found  there  were  approximately  eleven  hundred  such,  a  growth 
of  100  per  cent  in  ten  years  of  associations  that  we  could  find  some 
track  of  that  were  actively  at  work  to  improve  local  conditions.  Is  not 
that  encouraging?  To  go  into  further  particulars  of  the  work  of  the 
League  and  of  our  executive  committee  would  occupy  too  large  a  portion 
of  the  session.  It  may  be  well  to  remind  you  that  the  executive  commit- 
tee does  most  of  its  work  through  sub-committees.  The  reputation  of 
the  League  is  dependent  upon  the  effectiveness  and 
Committee  thoroughness  of  the  work  of  the  sub-committees  ap- 
Work  pointed   by  the   executive   committee.    These  sub- 

committees, some  of  them,  will  report  at  this  meeting. 
The  executive  committee  is  responsible  also  for  these  annual  meetings 
and  for  the  papers  presented  here.  In  general  the  executive  committee 
is  in  the  position  of  a  board  of  directors.  Give  your  board  of  directors  a 
a  sufficient  income  to  employ  a  competent  and  well  manned  staff,  and 
the  work  which  the  executive  committee  of  the  National  Municipal  League 
would  accomplish  in  the  interest  of  good  city  government  would  be  in- 
creased many,  many  fold.  What  we  need  is  more  members.  The  dues 
of  a  single  member  are  a  very  small  sum,  but  each  member  is  a  little  rivu- 
let and  a  sufficient  number  of  rivulets  will  make  a  considerable  stream. 
We  welcome  contributions,  but  we  welcome  still  more  the  growth  in  our 
regular  associated  membership.    We  ask  each  one  of  you  not  already  a 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


49 


member  to  join  us,  and  each  of  you  who  is  a  member  to  help  us  by  getting 
a  few  more  members.  [Applause.] 

The  Chairman  ;  You  have  heard  the  report  of  the  executive  committee 
by  its  chairman.  If  there  is  no  objection  the  report  will  be  received  and 
printed  in  the  proceedings  of  the  convention. 

We  will  go  on  to  the  discussion  of  the  next  paper  "Mtmicipal  Affairs  and 
the  Liquor  Problem, "and  I  have  great  pleasure  in  introducing  Prof. 
Augustus  Raymond  Hatton,  Western  Reserve  University  of  Cleveland, 
who  will  present  the  subject. 

Dr.  Hatton  then  read  his  paper  which  is  printed  in  full  in  the 
Appendix. 

The  Chairman  :  The  chair  will  call  on  the  four  gentlemen  next  upon  the 
program.  Mr.  F.  S.  Spence,  of  the  Toronto  Board  of  Control  will  open 
the  discussion  on  this  question.  [Applause.] 

Mr.  Spence  :  Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  We  have  listened 
to  an  extremely  interesting  analysis  of  the  liquor  problem,  and  to  some 
very  valuable  deductions  and  suggestions  concerning  the  most  desirable 
methods  of  dealing  with  that  problem.  Anything  to  be  added  must  be 
mainly  along  the  lines  of  reporting  experience  acquired,  and  results  attained 
in  observing  the  tendencies  and  working  out  the  principles  that  have  been 
so  clearly  stated. 

In  Canada  the  liquor  problem  is  not  so  acute  as  in  the  United  States. 
This  is  partly  because  of  differences  in  population.    The  fact  that  Canada 
has  a  population  of  little  more  than  six  million,  while 
Caiiadia.Il  that  of  the  United  States  is  about  twelve  times  as  great, 

,    is  sufficient  evidence  that  very  much  larger  additions 
Differences  of   ,      ,         j  r      ..u     *  •  j  •  • 
have  been  made  from  the  outside  m  your  case  than  m 

Population  ours.  Only  of  late  years  has  Canada  had  a  large  immi- 
gration from  Europe.  Even  this  immigration  has  been 
partially  counterbalanced  by  native  natural  increase,  and  by  an  influx  of 
Americans.  The  European  element  has  been  largely  going  on  land,  to 
form  rural  population.  Therefore,  at  any  rate  in  our  cities,  the  Canadian 
population  is  perhaps  more  American  than  is  the  case  on  this  side  of  the 
dividing  line,  using  the  term  "American"  in  a  continental  sense. 

The  results  of  this  difference  are  shown  in  the  statistics  which  set  out 
the  quantities  of  liquor  consumed  per  capita  in  the  different  countries. 
Canada's  annual  consumption  is  about  six  gallons.  In  the  United  States 
the  annual  per  capita  consumption  is  about  twenty  gallons,  and  in  Great 
Britain,  about  thirty-six  gallons.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  Canadians 
drink  on  an  average  only  about  one-third  of  the  amount  drunk  in  the  next 
soberest  country,  and  only  one-sixth  of  what  is  drunk  in  Great  Britain. 
Of  recent  years  there  has  been  some  tendency  to  an  increase  of  drinking 
in  Canada,  caused  partially  by  the  inrush  of  European  immigration,  and 
partially  no  doubt  by  an  increase  in  national  prosperity. 


5° 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


Another  fact  that  makes  the  liquor  question  less  dominant  in  Canada  is 
that  our  newcomers  have  not  as  much  political  power  and  influence  as 
yours  have.  We  are  accustomed  to  looking  upon  municipal  functions  and 
administration  as  being  business  rather  than  politics.  The  men  and  women 
who  are  directly  taxed  for  the  maintenance  of  public  services  are  supposed 
to  be  best  entitled  to  the  selection  of  the  representatives 
Differences  who  shall  control  the  expenditures  made  on  those  ser- 
in Electorate  vices.  Our  municipal  voters  are  taxpayers  or  house- 
holders. 

Again,  our  population  is  smaller  than  yours.  Our  largest  cities  are  not 
as  large  as  yours,  and  this  has  an  important  relation  to  the  question  of 
law  enforcement. 

In  other  respects  conditions  in  Canada  are  very  similar  to  conditions 
in  the  United  States,  and  show  just  the  features  and  variations  that  the 
preceding  speaker  has  so  fully  described. 

Each  of  the  ten  Canadian  provinces  has  a  different  law  for  the  regula- 
tion of  the  liquor  traffic.  All  these  laws  have  local  features,  and  all  of 
them  are  of  a  restrictive  character. 

Canada  has  a  national  local  option  law,  popularly  known  as  the  Scott 
Act.  It  was  applicable  only  to  counties  and  cities.  Under  it  there  was 
developed  the  difficulty  already  described.  Prohibition  was  forced  upon 
a  large  town  by  the  vote  of  the  surrounding  rural  community.  This  fact 
made  law-enforcing  difficult,  and  contributed  to  a  later  rejection  of  the 
law  in  many  places.  At  the  present  time  action  for  the  adoption  of  local 
option  is  taken  mainly  under  provincial  laws,  under  which  the  local  option 
unit  is  the  smallest  territory  having  local  municipal  government. 

In  the  Province  of  Nova  Scotia,  licenses  are  issued  in  only  two  counties 
out  of  nineteen.  In  New  Brunswick  licenses  are  issued  in  five  out  of 
fourteen  counties.  Prince  Edward  Island  is  entirely 
Canadian  under  a  provincial  law  of  prohibition.    In  Quebec 

Local  Option      more  than  one-third  of  the  parishes  are  without  licenses. 

In  Ontario,  licenses  are  issued  in  more  than  half  of  the 
municipalities.  Less  than  thirty  years  ago  this  province  had  6185  licenses 
Now  the  number  is  less  than  2400.  The  new  western  provinces  are  also 
making  progress  in  the  direction  of  no-license  by  local  option  legislation. 

Ontario,  the  largest  Canadian  province  may  be  taken  as  typical  of  the 
general  character  and  tendency  of  liquor  legislation.  Two  classes  of  retail 
liquor  licenses  are  issued,  (i)  Shop  licenses,  permitting  the  sale  of 
liquor  in  quantities  to  be  removed  from  the  premises  where  it  is  sold,  and 
consumed  elsewhere;  (2)  tavern  licenses,  permitting  bar-room  sale  of 
liquor  to  be  drunk  on  the  premises.  Tavern  licenses  are  issued  only  to 
places  which  provide  hotel  accommodation.  The  law  does  not  provide 
for  saloons,  that  is,  mere  drinking  places.  A  local  option  ordinance  may 
prohibit  shop  licenses,  or  tavern  licenses,  or  both.  This  gives  us  three 
kinds  of  local  option.  The  form  prohibiting  all  retail  selling  is  the  most 
popular.    Three-fifths  of  the  votes  cast  on  the  question  are  necessary  to 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


51 


carry  a  local  option  ordinance,  or  to  repeal  an  ordinance  adopted  by  such 
a  vote. 

Regulations  for  the  restraint  of  permitted  liquor-selling  are  stringent. 
The  number  of  tavern  licenses  that  may  be  issued  in  a  municipality  is  lim- 
ited to  three  for  the  first  thousand  of  the  population,  and 
The  Ontario  to  one  for  each  additional  six  hundred.  Municipal  coun- 
System  cils  have  little  control  over  liquor  selling.    They  may 

further  limit  the  number  of  licenses  permitted,  or  they 
may  increase  the  hotel  accommodation  which  licensees  are  required  to 
supply,  but  they  have  little  else  to  do  with  the  liquor  traffic.  The  issuing 
of  licenses  and  the  supervision  of  the  traffic  in  each  license  district,  is 
under  the  direction  of  a  board  of  commissioners  and  an  inspector  ap- 
pointed by  the  state  executive,  the  province  being  divided  into  about  one 
hundred  license  districts. 

The  other  restrictions  in  force  are  similar  to  those  of  your  states.  No 
liquor  may  be  sold  after  eleven  p.m.,  nor  between  seven  o'clock  on  Satur- 
day night  and  six  o'clock  on  the  following  Monday  morning,  nor  on  any 
election  day,  nor  to  inebriates,  nor  to  Indians,  nor  to  persons  under  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  nor  within  three  hundred  feet  of  a  school  or  church,  nor 
within  three  hundred  yards  of  any  agricultural  or  industrial  exhibition. 
There  are  also  in  operation  the  usual  statutory  provisions  concerning  civic 
damages  and  the  like. 

Penalties  for  law  violation  are  severe.  The  punishment  for  selling  liquor 
without  license  is,  for  a  first  offense  a  fine  of  from  $50  to  $100  with  an  alter- 
native of  imprisonment,  for  a  second  offense  imprisonment  for  four  months 
at  hard  labor  without  alternative,  and  for  a  third  offence  imprisonment 
for  six  months  at  hard  labor  without  alternative.  A  license  holder  con- 
victed of  three  offenses  within  two  years,  forfeits  his  license  and  is  disquali- 
fied from  being  again  licensed  for  three  years. 

The  City  of  Toronto  with  a  population  of  about  three  hundred  thousand, 
has  exercised  its  power  to  limit  the  number  of  licenses  by  city  ordinance, 
and  now  permits  only  two  hundred  licenses,  fifty  shops 
The  Toronto  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  taverns.  The  license  fees 
Situation  charged  are  $1200  for  tavern  licenses,  and  $  1 000  for  shop 

licenses.  One-half  of  the  fee  goes  to  the  municipality 
and  one-half  to  the  province.  The  license  fee  is  fairly  high,  but  its  amount 
has  no  effect  upon  the  number  of  licenses.  The  privilege  of  liquor  selling 
in  this  case  is  so  valuable  that  more  than  $1300  would  be  paid  if  neces- 
sary. 

The  enforcement  of  law  is  good.  The  limited  number  of  licenses  makes 
a  license  a  valuable  franchise,  and  the  risk  of  forfeiture  impels  license- 
holders  to  strict  observance  of  the  law.  Its  tendency  is  also  towards  the 
eliminating  of  the  worst  class  of  men,  and  the  liquor  sellers  are  a  selected 
set.    The  law  is  strictly  obeyed. 

Another  factor  that  makes  for  efficient  law  enforcement  in  Canada,  is 
the  British  theory  and  method  of  making  executive  action  independent 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


of  local  preference  or  prejudice,  The  framers  of  your  national  and  state 
constitutions,  carefully  differentiated  between  legislative,  judicial,  and 
executive  departments  of  government,  but  did  not  give  these  departments 
equally  broad  bases.  Your  legislature,  representing  every  section  of  the 
state  enacts  laws  supposed  to  be  expressive  of  general  opinion  and  will. 
Court  interpretation  and  enforcement  of  that  law,  to  a  great  extent  depend 
upon  local  conditions  and  ideas.  Canadians  would  look  with  alarm  upon 
the  proposal  to  elect  in  any  county,  a  judge,  or  sheriff,  or  prosecuting  at- 
torney, who,  because  of  his  election,  would  feel  specially  impelled  to  respect 

the  opinion  of  his  constituency  rather  than  the  general 
Appointive  purpose  of  the  law.  Our  judges  are  appointed  by  the 
Judges  national  executive.    Officials,  whose  duty  it  is  to  put 

the  law  into  operation  are  appointed  by  our  provincial 
or  state  executive.  Even  the  control  of  police  in  large  cities  is  not  left 
in  the  hands  of  local  municipal  councils.  Nearly  all  executive  officers  hold 
their  positions  for  life  or  good  conduct. 

It  is  easy  to  imagine  a  state  law  against  gambling  which  would  be  un- 
popular in  some  local  city,  in  which  city  public  opinion  might  elect  oflS- 
cials  who  would  make  the  law  a  farce.  This  could  not  occur  under  the 
Canadian  plan,  which  plan  therefore  makes  the  enforcement  of  liquor  laws 
more  effective  than  would  be  the  case  if  courts  and  law-enforcers  were 
locally  elected. 

What  is  the  outlook?  The  tendency  is  towards  further  restraint.  The 
general  opinion  is  that  there  will  be  a  continuous  progress  along  lines  of 
restriction,  to  the  ultimate  extinction  of  legalized  liquor  selling.  Licenses 
will  be  fewer.  Penalties  for  violation  will  be  severer.  Fees  will  be  higher. 
The  traffic  will  become  less  respectable  and  influential.  Finally,  the 
embodiment  of  public  opinion  either  in  local  option  ordinances  or  in 
provincial  statute  will  terminate  the  bar-keeper's  occupation . 

Allow  me  to  say  in  conclusion  that  much  of  what  has 
The  Canadian  been  found  to  be  useful  in  our  liquor  legislation  has  been 
Outlook  copied  from  laws  passed  in  the  United  States.  We 

have  learned  a  good  deal  from  your  legislative  methods, 
and  we  have  succeeded  in  making  that  legislation  effective  by  the  applica- 
tion of  English  administrative  principles.  Indeed  we  are  indebted  to  your 
example  for  much  of  what  we  have  attained  on  various  lines  of  political 
progress.  To  your  research  and  experiment,  to  your  genius  for  govern- 
ment, to  your  skill  in  adapting  methods  to  conditions,  we  owe  a  great 
deal. 

It  is  impossible  to  over-estimate  the  bsnefit  that  may  be  derived  by 
your  country  and  ours,  from  their  contiguity  and  independence.  Each 
has  an  opportunity  to  study  the  methods  of  the  other  and  the  results 
attained.  This  may  be  done  by  one  country  before  taking  up  the  problems 
which  the  other  is  seeking  to  solve.  We  learn  from  your  success  and  also 
sometimes  from  your  blunders.  In  both  these  ways  we  may  be  able  to 
reciprocate.    We  are  better  off  than  if  we  were  politically  united,  and  let 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


53 


me  add  that  even  co-citizenship,  could  not  raise  your  great  nation  any 
higher  than  it  already  stands  in  the  admiration  and  esteem  of  all  intel- 
ligent Canadians.  [Applause.] 

The  Chairman  :  I  think  you  will  all  agree  with  the  chair  that  Mr.  Spence 
has  made  a  real  contribution  to  the  discussion  on  this  subject.  The  chair 
has  pleasure  in  calling  for  further  discussion  on  this  subject  from  the  Rev. 
Dr.  John  P.  Peters  of  New  York  City,  Rector  of  Saint  Michael's  Church, 
New  York,  and  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Fourteen  for  the  sup- 
pression of  the  Raines  Law  in  hotels  of  New  York  City.  [Applause.] 

Dr.  John  P.  Peters:  How  blessed  are  they  who  are  in  sympathy  with 
their  surroundings!  I  envy  the  last  speaker  his  complete  sympathy  with 
the  excise  legislation  and  the  administration  of  that  legislation  in  the  Prov- 
ince of  Ontario.  Unfortunately,  I  am,  to  some  extent,  out  of  sympathy 
with  the  excise  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York  and  to  a  great  extent  with 
the  administration  of  those  laws,  at  least  so  far  as  my  home  city,  New 
York,  is  concerned;  but  of  that  further  in  a  moment. 

What  we  are  discussing,  as  I  understand  it,  is  not  excise  legislation  as 
such,  but  liquor  traffic  in  its  relation  to  city  government.  Professor  Hat- 
ton  has,  I  think,  been  somewhat  unjust  to  the  b'quor 
Not  Excise  trafl5c  in  that  portion  of  his  paper  in  which  he  spoke  of 
Laws  but  the  political  effects.  The  liquor  traffic  and  the  saloons 
'  are  undoubtedly  in  politics,  but  they  are  not  the  only 

Liquor  Traffic  fonns  of  business  which  are  in  politics  and  their  polit- 
ical influence  is  not,  I  believe,  by  any  means  so  great  or 
so  dangerous  as  Professor  Hatton  implies. 

Some  years  ago  in  my  own  locaUty  a  number  of  us  were  fighting  against 
the  invasion  of  our  decency  by  a  number  of  very  objectionable  saloons, 
with  dance  halls  and  immoral  attachments  of  one  sort  and  another.  We 
found  no  very  great  difficulty  in  putting  them  out  of  business,  except  one. 
That  one,  I  regret  to  say,  exists  to  this  day.  It  was  backed  by  one  of  the 
great  street  railway  corporations  of  New  York.  The  political  influence  of 
the  saloon  was  not  able  to  resist  a  citizens'  movement,  but  the  pubUc 
service  corporation  was  able  to  resist  us  successfully.  The  political  dan- 
ger in  the  saloon  is  its  use  as  a  tool  by  such  corporations,  seeking  to  obtain 
public  property  for  nothing,  or  without  adequate  pay- 
The  Public  ment.  They,  not  it,  are  the  real  source  of  political  cor- 
Service  Cor-  ruption  and  the  real  obstacle  in  the  way  of  proper  con- 
poration  the  trol  of  the  liquor  traffic;  at  least  that  is  my  experience 
Real  Offender  New  York,  and,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascer- 
tain, it  seems  to  be  the  experience  of  men  who  in  other 
places  have  attempted  to  follow  corruption  to  the  bottom,  as,  for  instance, 
Judge  Lindsey  in  Denver. 

And  here  I  may  add  that  the  method  of  some  church  leaders  and 
church  organizations  in  combating   the   liquor  evil   tends  at  times 


S4 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


certainly  to  throw  the  saloon  into  politics  instead  of  taking  it  out. 
They  enter  the  political  field  only  as  it  touches  the  liquor  traffic.  Pro- 
vided a  man  vote  for  their  measures  in  that  direction,  he  may  be  as  cor- 
rupt as  possible  elsewhere  and  yet  receive  their  commendation  and  sup- 
port. A  couple  of  years  since  I  noticed  on  the  list  of  candidates  for  the 
Legislature,  having  the  approval  of  the  Anti-Saloon  League  in  New  York 
(an  organization  with  which  I  have  been  glad  to  cooperate  in  some  of  its 
work),  probably  the  most  dangerously  corrupt  man  in  the  entire  Assembly, 
a  man  of  decent  exterior,  gentlemanly  surroundings  and  pleasant  relations, 
through  whom  all  the  iniquitous  sneak-thief  legislation  of  the  railway  cor- 
porations was  introduced.  Bought  and  owned  legislators  of  that  descrip- 
tion can  never  be  calculated  on  to  give  us  good  and  honest  legislation  on 
any  subject,  because  their  first  consideration  is  the  provision  of  proper 
tools  for  their  own  corrupt  piu^joses  and  those  of  their  clients. 

I  do  not  think  that  we  can  take  the  saloon  out  of  politics  until  we  have 
succeeded  in  taking  other  businesses  out  of  politics.  The  saloon  is  only 
part  of  the  whole  system.  It  is  a  branch,  so  to  speak,  of  the  tree.  We 
must  cut  down  the  tree  and  dig  up  its  roots. 

As  to  the  liquor  traffic  and  city  government,  I  speak  with  much  diffi- 
dence. I  have  no  best  method  to  propose  for  dealing  with  the  liquor 
traffic  in  cities.  Such  experiences  as  I  have,  such  knowledge  as  I  possess 
and  such  ideas  as  I  have  developed  pertain  to  my  home  city  of  New  York 
and  I  must,  therefore,  ask  you  to  bear  with  me  if,  instead  of  treating  the 
theme  as  a  whole,  I  merely  speak  of  our  problem  in  New  York  City  and 
how,  accepting  the  existing  condition  of  separate  state  and  city  govern- 
ments, and  building  on  our  present  law,  developing  it,  not  revolutionizing 
it,  we  could,  in  a  very  practical  and  simple  way,  reach  a  condition  which 
would  remove  certainly  some  of  the  most  serious  evils  under  which  we  now 
suffer. 

For  those  who  are  not  familiar  with  the  New  York  law,  let  me  say  that 
that  law,  the  so-called  Raines  Law,  after  the  name  of  its  author  and  pro- 
moter, took  effect  in  1896  and  has  been  modified  only 
The  Raines         jjj  minor  particulars  since  that  date.    Mr.  Hatton  has 
Law,  a  pointed  out  that  the  liquor  problem  is  really  a  city,  not 

Countryman's  a  country  problem.  But  this  was  a  countryman's  law, 
j^Q^  passed  by  country  votes,  in  a  state  where  the  political 

complexion  of  the  country  is  different  from  the  political 
complexion  of  the  great  cities,  especially  New  York,  and  it  has,  from  that 
day  to  this,  been  administered  as  a  country  law,  by  countrymen,  not 
sympathetic  with  city  conditions  and  who  seem  to  have  made  no  serious 
attempt  to  put  themselves  into  touch  with  city  conditions  and  city  ideals. 
The  natural  result  is  that  in  regard  to  this  law  there  is  a  hostility  between 
the  state  excise  department,  which  is  entrusted  with  its  enforcement  in 
the  most  essential  particulars,  and  the  city  authorities,  to  whom  falls  the 
administration  and  enforcement  of  the  law  on  the  police  and  criminal  side. 
The  liquor  tax  provided  by  the  law  is  extremely  profitable  to  the  state  and 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


SS 


the  greater  part  of  those  profits  are  derived  from  the  cities,  the  Borough 
of  Manhattan  alone  paying  one-half  of  the  entire  amount  collected  from 
license  fees.  Although  the  cities  receive  a  part  of  this  excise  tax,  they 
feel  that  they  are  being  exploited  by  the  countrymen,  and  that  the  country 
receives  an  undue  proportion  of  the  excise  revenue  which  is  raised  almost 
entirely  in  the  great  cities. 

The  law  provides  in  New  York  City,  for  liquor  to  be  consumed  on  the 
premises,  a  license  fee  of  $1200  per  annum,  with  a  bond,  forfeitable  in 
case  of  violation  of  the  law,  of  $1800.  The  licenses  are  issued  by  the  state, 
half  of  the  license  fee  going  to  the  state  and  half  to  the  municipality.  In 
addition  to  the  ordinary  prohibitions  of  immorality,  gambling  houses, 
prostitution,  and  the  like,  in  connection  with  licensed  places,  the  state  also 
prescribes  the  police  provisions,  nominating  the  hours  within  which  the 
place  may  be  open,  requiring  that  the  bar  be  exposed  to  the  street  at  hours 
when  sales  are  forbidden,  and  especially  forbidding  any  sale  of  liquor  on 
Sunday.  To  this  latter  regulation  there  is  one  exception:  If  the  place 
licensed  b^  a  hotel,  for  no  extra  fee  it  may  sell  liquor  on  Sunday,  provided 
it  be  sold  with  a  meal. 

For  violation  of  any  provision  of  this  law,  whether  moral  and  legitimately 
covered  by  the  criminal  code,  as  keeping  gambling  houses  or  houses  of 
prostitution  in  connection  with  the  sale  of  liquor,  or  conventional  viola- 
tions of  what  are  properly  non-criminal  ordinances,  such  as  selling  out  of 
hours,  on  Sunday,  etc.,  the  license  may  be  revoked  and  the  bond  forfeited. 

Revocation  of  a  license  occurs  on  evidence  presented  by 
The  Powers  the  excise  department  of  a  violation  of  the  excise  law 
of  the  Excise  ^ny  of  its  provisions,  important  or  unimportant,  be- 
Department  ^  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court.    The  power  placed 

in  the  hands  of  the  excise  department  by  these  provi- 
sions is  very  great.  The  law  itself  is  constitutional,  as  has  been  decided 
by  the  highest  courts  of  the  state,  only  as  a  police  measure.  By  decision 
of  the  court  the  object  of  the  law  is  to  regulate  the  traffic,  and  licenses  are 
issued  not  primarily  for  revenue  purposes,  but  to  enable  the  state  to  regu- 
late and  police  the  liquor  traffic. 

In  spite  of  court  decisions,  however,  from  the  outset  the  excise  depart- 
ment has  treated  this  law  as  a  revenue  measure,  administering  it  not  to 
regulate  the  liquor  traffic,  but  to  collect  as  large  a  revenue  as  possible  from 
that  traffic,  and  especially  from  the  great  cities.  It  has  even  undertaken 
to  throw  the  burden  of  the  police  administration,  with  which  it  is  prima- 
rily entrusted,  upon  the  city  and  county  authorities,  which  have,  it  is  true, 
by  the  provisions  of  the  law,  coordinate  jurisdiction.  This  is,  to  begin  with, 
ridiculous. 

The  cities  having  had  practically  no  voice  in  the  determination  of  the 
police  regulations  of  the  traffic,  which  were  framed  by  persons  politically, 
socially  and  economically  quite  out  of  sympathy  with  the  city,  have  natur- 
ally regarded  the  law  very  much  in  the  light  of  the  yoke  of  a  conquering 
enemy.    The  city  not  having  been  consulted,  this  law  having  been  imposed 


56 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


upon  it  by  country  legislators  and  being  administered  from  top  to  bottom 
by  country  officials,  even  the  most  honest  city  officials  have  felt  no  great 
responsibility  for  its  enforcement,  while  the  citizens  at  large  have  regarded 
it  with  actual  animosity.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  grand  juries  in  New 
York  City  will  not  indict  ofiFenders  against  this  law. 

Moreover,  the  law  having  given  to  the  state  authorities  a  particularly 
efficient  means  of  enforcing  the  law  and  paid  the  state  enormously  for 
doing  so,  at  the  expense  of  the  cities,  the  city  authorities  naturally  feel 
that  the  burden  of  its  enforcement  should  lie  on  the  state.  The  result  of 
this  conflict  between  state  and  city  has  been  that  neither  party  has  en- 
forced the  law,  except  for  graft.  The  state,  on  its  side,  developed  what 
may  be  called  an  extra  legal  system  of  licensing  vicious 
Licensing  resorts.    Having  ascertained  by  inspection  or  by  com- 

Vicious  Resorts  plaint  of  citizens  that  some  licensee  was  conducting  a 
vicious  resort,  it  would  secure  a  revocation  of  his  license 
and  a  forfeiture  of  his  bond  at  intervals  of  some  years,  intervals  sufficiently 
remote  to  enable  him  to  stand  the  extra  tax  without  going  out  of  business. 
These  extra  taxes  for  running  vicious  resorts,  so  calculated  that  they  would 
not  put  those  resorts  out  of  business,  considerably  increased  the  revenue 
derived  by  the  state  from  the  city,  without  at  all  giving  that  control  and 
regulation  of  the  traffic  which  the  city  was  entitled  to  expect  from  the  state 
in  payment  for  those  fees.  In  New  York  these  penalties  are  actually 
more  than  enough  to  pay  the  entire  running  expenses  of  the  excise  depart- 
ment, including  the  expenses  involved  in  enforcing  the  penalties. 

The  city  politicians  found  their  profit  from  the  traffic  in  a  manner  some- 
what different  from  that  of  the  up-state  politicians.  Through  threats  of 
arrest  and  criminal  conviction  for  violation  of  the  excise  law,  they  levied 
an  illegal  tax  on  the  traffic.  By  this  means  practically  every  saloon, 
whether  running  legally  or  illegally,  was  compelled  to  pay  a  certain 
monthly  sum,  which  was  collected  directly  or  indirectly  through  the  police. 
This  was  supposed  to  be  payment  for  the  privilege  of  running  illegally, 
and  saloons  which  would  not  open  on  Sundaj'  were  liable  to  special  per- 
secution and  prosecution  by  "framed"  cases,  to  force 
The  Saloon  them  to  run  illegally  and  pay  for  the  privilege.  Extra 
an  Agent  of  vicious  resorts  paid  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of 
Corruption  their  vice  and  its  profits.  The  policy  of  state  and 
city  officials  thus  tended  to  degrade  and  criminalize  the 
liquor  traffic  more  and  more  and  made  the  saloon  an  agent  of  increasing 
political  corruption. 

The  hotel  provision  of  the  law,  giving  a  special  opportunity  for  Sunday 
violations  and  being  enforced  as  to  the  provisions  with  regard  to  what 
constituted  a  hotel  neither  by  the  state  authorities  nor  by  the  city  author- 
ities, the  result  was  that  a  large  number  of  saloons  added  to  their  saloon 
accommodations  a  few  rooms,  which  they  designated  a  hotel.  To  pay 
for  these  rooms,  as  there  was  no  demand  for  them  for  real  hotel  uses,  the 
saloons  came  in  most  cases  to  allow  their  use  for  purposes  of  prostitution. 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


57 


This  was  winked  at  on  the  city  side,  because  each  vicious  resort  gave  so 
much  additional  revenue,  and,  on  the  state  side,  because  it  increased  both 
the  number  of  licenses  and  the  amount  of  the  extra  license  fees  collected 
by  the  state  at  intervals  on  vicious  resorts.  A  couple  of  years  ago,  in  the 
Borough  of  Manhattan  alone,  there  were  about  1200  fake  hotels  as  over 
against  some  200  to  250  actual  legitimate  hotels.  The  effect  of  this  whole 
system  on  the  social  and  political  morality  of  the  city  was  horrible.  The 
law  as  administered  was  and  is  infamous.  It  should  be  added  that  the 
present  excise  commissioner  appears  to  be  making  an  honest  effort  to 
comprehend  the  situation  and  to  administer  the  law  efficiently;  but  he  is 
seriously  handicapped  by  the  heritage  of  past  maladministration. 

And  now  for  a  few  suggestions  with  regard  to  what  can  be  done,  sub- 
stantially along  the  lines  of  the  present  law,  for  it  seems  as  though  it 
would  be  practically  an  impossibility  to  change  that  law  in  its  fundamental 
provisions. 

The  answers  to  the  questions  sent  out  in  preparation  for  this  discus- 
sion show  a  pretty  general  agreement  as  to  the  value  of  limiting  the  num- 
ber of  licenses  in  any  given  place  in  proportion  to  the 
Luzuting  the  population.  This  would  probably  be  a  good  thing  in 
Number  of  New  York  City.  It  is  likely  to  be  opposed  on  the  rev- 
Saloons  enue  side,  however,  from  fear  that  it  may  diminish  the 

revenue  received  by  the  state  from  the  sale  of  licenses. 
This  is  a  practical  if  immoral  difficulty.  It  might  be  obviated  on  its  practical 
side  to  the  distinct  advantage  of  its  moral  side  by  making  the  present 
license  fee  a  minimum  and  providing  that  licenses  like  ferry  franchise  should 
be  bid  upon  and  knocked  down  to  the  lowest  bidder  who  complies  with  the 
conditions,  financial,  moral  and  otherwise,  attached  to  the  license.  Some 
licensees  could  very  well  afford  to  pay  a  great  deal  more  than  $1200,  and 
this  might  become  the  case  with  all  licensees  if  the  number  of  licenses  were 
regulated.  Of  course  this  involves  the  danger,  which  is  a  peculiarly  great 
one  in  New  York  state,  that  the  license,  having  thus  become  property, 
should  be  regarded  by  the  court  as  a  vested  right,  a  contract  on  the  part 
of  the  state  which  can  not  be  violated,  never  mind  how  grossly  the  licensee 
on  his  side  violates  the  law  which  was  the  condition  of  his  license  or  fran- 
chise. To  make  such  a  system  effective  it  would  be  necessary,  al.so,  and 
that  would  be  a  great  gam,  to  extend  the  term  of  the  license,  which  would 
not,  of  course,  affect  the  annual  revenue  derived  from  the  same.  It  would 
also  be  necessary,  and  in  this  there  would  be  a  very  great  gain  (in  fact,  this 
should  be  the  next  step  in  amending  the  law  in  New  York,  whether  the 
number  of  licenses  is  regulated  or  not)  to  connect  the  license  with  the 
property. 

At  the  present  time  each  license  is  granted  to  an  individual.  An  indi- 
vidual may  have  as  many  licenses  as  he  pleases,  provided  he  comply  with 
the  conditions,  pay  the  fee,  put  up  the  bond,  etc.  If  a  license  is  revoked 
the  same  licensee  may  not  have  the  license  renewed.  But  in  point  of  fact 
the  business  continues,  in  99  cases  out  of  100,  to  be  conducted  by  the  same 


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man,  who  at  once  gets  out  another  license  in  the  name  of  someone  else,  an 
employee,  bartender,  or  the  like. 

In  New  York  City  behind  the  larger  part  of  the  saloons  stand  the  brewers. 
One  or  two  breweries  actually  own  all  the  places  in  which  their  beer  is 
sold.  Others  control  the  places  by  chattel  mortgages,  the  assignment  of 
licenses,  etc.  If  the  revocation  of  a  license  carried  with  it  the  condemna- 
tion of  the  place  for  a  certain  period  of  years,  it  would  at  once  become  the 
interest  of  the  brewer,  and,  where  the  brewer  did  not  own  the  property, 
of  the  property  owner,  who  can  generally  get  a  larger  rent  by  letting  his 
place  for  a  saloon,  to  see  to  it  that  the  law  is  not  violated. 

But  more  important  probably  than  these  changes  in  the  law  itself,  is  a 
change  in  the  method  of  its  administration.  If  the  excise  department  can 
be  compelled  to  carry  out  its  obligation  of  police  regulation  and  control, 
not  making  the  collection  of  revenue  the  first  object  of  its  existence,  we 
shall  secure  a  very  much  better  condition  of  affairs  in  New  York.  To  be 
sure  the  excise  department  is  not  properly  equipped  for  this  purpose.  The 
state,  which  receives  so  large  a  revenue  from  the  cities,  does  not  furnish 
the  excise  commissioner  with  a  sufficient  number  of  deputies  to  do  the 
work.  But  the  excise  department  itself  has  been  the  greatest  sinner.  It 
has  devoted  its  time  and  attention  to  collecting  reve- 
The  Sins  of  nue.  It  has  failed  to  establish  a  proper  administrative 
the  Excise  office  in  New  York  City,  and  even  to  come  into  touch 

Department  with  the  police  officials,  as  it  should  do  under  the 
provisions  of  the  present  law.  If,  in  the  case  of  each 
vicious  resort,  the  existence  of  which  the  excise  commissioner  discovered 
or  which  was  reported  to  him  through  the  activity  of  citizens,  or  the  evi- 
dence of  the  existence  of  which  was  obtained  through  a  criminal  court  con- 
viction, he  would  proceed  promptly  and  not  once  but  as  often  as  need  be, 
in  rapid  succession,  to  secure  revocations  of  the  licenses  and  forfeiture  of 
the  bonds,  he  would  put  such  a  place  out  of  existence,  or  compel  it  to 
obey  the  law  and  by  doing  so  would  exert  on  the  whole  traffic  in  New 
York  City  the  same  wholesome  influence  which  is  exerted  in  ordinary 
police  matters  by  following  up  offenders  in  the  courts,  until  their  offenses 
are  put  an  end  to. 

As  a  matter  of  simple,  common  sense  it  ought  to  have  been  plain  to  any 
intelligent  man  that,  if  this  law  were  to  be  enforced  at  all  in  the  cities,  it 
must  be  enforced  primarily  through  the  methods  of  civil  procedure  in- 
trusted to  the  state  authorities;  that  the  cities  could  not,  under  the  circum- 
stances, be  expected  to  cooperate  effectively  on  the  police  side.  It  is  in 
fact  better  that,  so  far  as  possible,  this  matter  of  licensing  and  controlling 
licenses  should  be  taken  out  of  police  administration  and  put  on  a  property 
basis.  If  saloon  keepers  knew  that  the  excise  department  were  really 
going  to  exercise  its  police  power  in  the  manner  indicated,  the  opportunity 
for  police  graft  would  largely  vanish.  As  the  police  could  not  give  secur- 
ity against  excise  department  prosecutions  for  revocation  of  license  and 
forfeiture  of  bonds  and  consequent  closing  up  of  their  places,  saloon  keep- 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


59 


ers  would  not  be  willing  to  pay  police  graft  for  the  privilege  of  violating 
the  law. 

But  while  proper  enforcement  of  the  law  by  the  state  authorities  would 
thus  obviate  some  of  the  most  serious  evils  of  the  present  situation,  there 

will  always  remain  a  police  relation  to  the  saloon  as  to 
The  Police  every  other  business,  and  a  closer  relation  than  in  the 

Relation  to  case  of  most  other  forms  of  business.  That  being  the 
the  Saloon  case,  it  is  desirable,  so  far  as  possible,  to  have  the  city 

authorities  in  sympathy  with  the  police  provisions  of  the 
law.  Now  by  the  New  York  law  local  option  is  granted  everywhere  except 
in  the  cities.  There  is  no  legitimate  reason  for  this  exception.  Local 
option  should  certainly  be  granted  to  the  cities  as  it  is  granted  to  the  rest 
of  the  state.  Probably  for  a  city  of  the  size  and  character  of  New  York  it 
would  be  better  to  grant  local  option  by  districts,  following  some  estab- 
lished district  lines,  assembly,or  local  improvement  board,  presumably,  being 
the  most  convenient.  While  this  local  option  might  not  be  availed  of,  the 
fact  of  its  existence  would  be  of  value  in  bringing  citizens  into  sympathy 

and  securing  their  cooperation  with  the  law,  by,  giving 
Local  Option      them  some  responsibility  underthat law.    Further,  there 

should  be  local  option  as  to  what  are  merely  police  regu- 
lations and  which  must  be  enforced  primarily  by  the  city  authorities,  as,  for 
instance,  the  hours  at  which  liquor  shall  be  sold,  whether  liquor  shall  be 
sold  on  Sunday;  if  so,  under  what  restrictions,  etc.  Presumably  this  sort  of 
local  option  should  be  not  by  districts,  but  by  the  whole  city,  since  it  is  the 
whole  city  which  is  concerned  in  the  police  administration.  No  one  at  the 
present  moment  has  any  real  knowledge  of  what  the  citizens  of  New  York 
think  and  feel  on  the  subject  of  Sunday  opening.  Much  has  been  said 
about  it  and  the  fact  that  the  citizens  themselves  have  no  option  in  the 
matter  has  been  used  most  effectively  to  excite  disaffection  toward  the  law. 
In  simple  common  sense  the  city  should  be  allowed  to  decide  such  purely 
police  matters  as  that  for  itself. 

These  are  only  a  few  very  simple  and  partial  suggestions,  in  no  wise 
radical  in  their  character.  I  do  not  claim  that,  these  modifications  made, 
the  law  would  be  ideal  or  the  best  possible.  They  would  certainly,  how- 
ever, go  far  toward  alleviating  conditions  in  New  York,  and  if  we  could 
secure  a  proper  police  enforcement  of  its  own  excise  law  by  the  state — that, 
you  see,  is  a  question  of  administration  rather  than  legislation — I  think 
that  a  very  livable  condition  would  be  attained  and  that  the  saloons  would 
probably  be  much  less  in  evidence  politically  than  they  are  or  are  believed 
to  be  at  the  present  time. 

The  Chairman:  I  now  have  the  pleasure  of  introducing  Mayor  Charles 
Fisk  of  Plainfield,  N.  J.,  who  is  also  chairman  of  the  New  Jersey  Excise 
Commission. 

Mayor  Fisk:  The  question  of  the  proper  solution  of  the  liquor  problem 
in  the  state  of  New  Jersey  is  one  that  is  now  most  prominent  before  the 
people  of  the  state.    In  accordance  with  a  joint  resolution  of  the  Senate 


6o 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


and  General  Assembly  passed  at  the  last  session  of  the  Legislature,  the 
Governor  early  in  the  year  appointed  a  commission  of  seven  citizens  to 

investigate  the  whole  subject  of  the  excise  question 
New  Jersey  in  the  state  and  to  make  such  recommendation  with 
Excise  respect  to  changes  therein  as  in  their  judgment  may 

Commission       seem  wise,  and  report  to  the  Governor  on  or  before  the 

fifteenth  day  of  December,  1908. 
This  commission  had  the  power  to  hold  sittings  in  such  places  in  the 
state  as  might  be  most  convenient  and  necessary,  and  compel  the  attend- 
ance of  witnesses,  and  the  giving  of  information  in  response  to  the 
proper  inquiry.  It  started  in  upon  its  work  July  first  of  this  year,  and 
since  that  time  has  held  a  number  of  meetings  in  various  parts  of  the 
state  and  examined  and  taken  statements  from  over  500  witnesses. 

The  State  of  New  Jersey  is  peculiarly  located  geographically.  It  is 
really  a  right  of  way  connecting  the  south  and  west  with  the  north  and 
east.  Every  great  railroad  leading  from  the  south  and  west  into  the 
City  of  New  York,  with  the  exception  of  the  New  York  Central,  passes 
through  the  state.  At  practically  one  end  of  the  state  is  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  and  at  the  other  end  the  great  city  of  New  York.  I  men- 
tion this  matter  here  simply  to  show  that  whatever  action  may  be  taken 
in  the  state  of  New  Jersey  in  regard  to  liquor  legislation,  we  must  take 
into  consideration  the  influences  that  are  necessarily  brought  to  bear 
from  the  neighboring  states  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania.    New  Jersey 

is  also  a  sea  coast  State,  having  150  miles  of  shore 
Characteristics  extending  from  Cape  May  to  Sandy  Hook.  On 

this  coast  are  some  of  the  principal  seaside  resorts  of 
of  New  Jersey    t^e  United  States,  including  Atlantic  City,  which  is 

said  to  be  one  of  the  most  popular  and  largest  seaside 
resorts  in  the  world,  having  at  certain  times  during  the  year  a  visiting 
population  of  seekers  after  pleasure  of  from  200,000  to  300,000  people  at 
one  time. 

The  population  of  the  state  of  New  Jersey  is  estimated  approximately 
at  2,300,000.  In  the  state  there  are  7253  persons  holding  licenses  to 
transact  a  retail  liquor  business,  and  608  persons  for  the  transaction  of 
a  wholesale  business,  making  in  all  7861,  or  one  licensed  place  for  about 
every  300  people.  The  license  fees  vary  from  $100  to  $1000  and  the 
total  amount  of  license  fees  paid  in  the  state  in  round  figures  is  $2,700,000, 
which  money  is  used  for  the  general  expenses  of  the  municipality  in  which 
the  licensed  places  are  located,  thus  reducing  the  amount  of  money  to  be 
raised  by  taxation.  There  is  no  uniform  authority  in  the  state  for  the 
granting  of  licenses.  In  some  places  the  licenses  are  granted  by  a  license 
board  elected  by  the  people  at  a  general  election;  by  a  license  board 
appointed  by  the  mayor  of  the  municipality;  by  a  license  board  elected 
by  the  common  council  or  other  governing  body;  by  a  license  board 
appointed  by  the  judge  of  the  court  of  common  pleas;  directly  by  the 
common  council  or  board  of  aldermen;  and  by  the  judge  of  the  court  of 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


6i 


common  pleas — making  in  all  six  different  systems.  There  are  located 
in  the  state  at  the  present  time,  43  breweries  with  a  combined  capital 
of  something  over  $30,000,000,  andatotaloutputof  over  3,000,000  barrels 
a  year,  valued  at  something  over  $17,000,000.  In  addition  there  are 
several  small  distilleries  principally  for  the  manufacture  of  "  apple  whiskey" 
having  an  output  of  between  65,000  and  70,000  gallons  of  distilled  spirits. 
There  is  also  a  growing  industry  for  the  cultivation  of  grapes  and  the 
manufacture  of  "light  wine."  It  is  estimated  by  competent  authorities 
that  there  are  about  3000  acres  of  vineyards,  and  that  something  over 
$2,000,000  invested  as  capital  in  lands,  buildings,  machinery,  wine  cellars, 
etc.,  with  an  output  of  about  250,000  gallons  of  wines  a  year,  valued  at 
about  $250,000.  These  various  industries  give  employment  to  about 
5000  wage  earners.  According  to  the  reports  of  the  United  States 
Treasury  Department,  $3,500,000  was  paid  by  the  dealers  in  liquor  and 
the  manufacturers  as  internal  revenue.  This  taken  together  with  the 
amount  stated  above  as  paid  in  license  fees,  would  show  that  in  state, 
municipal  and  federal  taxes,  the  manufacturers  and  dealers  in  liquor  in 
the  state  of  New  Jersey  are  paying  a  tax  of  something  over  $6,200,000. 

The  laws  now  in  force  provide  that  no  liquor  shall  be  sold  without  a 
license:  that  all  saloons  must  close  at  12 o'clock Satur- 
Liouor  Laws  ^ight;  that  no  liquor  shall  be  sold  on  Sunday  or 

"    .  on  election  day;  no  liquor  shall  he  sold  to  a  minor 

now  in  rorce  under  21  years  of  age,  or  an  intoxicated  person,  or  a 
confirmed  drunkard.  For  harboring  drunken  persons 
vagrants,  idle  and  vicious  persons,  thieves,  gamblers,  prostitutes  or  other 
disorderly  persons,  or  allowing  gambling  or  unlawful  games  of  chance 
or  permitting  a  minor,  boy  or  girl,  under  21  years  of  age,  to  lounge  or 
frequent  his  place;  that  the  license,  upon  conviction  shall  become  for- 
feited and  void.  Also  that  except  in  a  hotel  or  inn  or  tavern,  having  at 
least  ten  spare  rooms  and  beds  for  the  accommodation  of  guests,  or  a 
restaurant  where  the  business  is  carried  on  more  than  one  floor,  or  a  building 
with  a  bowling  alley,  or  a  picnic  or  recreation  ground,  or  in  a  regularly 
organized  club  where  intoxicating  liquors  are  sold,  that  the  business  shall 
be  carried  on  in  one  bar  or  business  room,  the  interior  view  of  which  is  in 
full  view  from  any  part  of  the  interior,  and  that  during  prohibited  hours, 
there  shall  be  no  screen  or  other  obstruction  so  placed  in  the  windows  or 
doors,  so  that  a  full  view  of  the  interior  cannot  be  had  from  the  exterior. 
In  case  of  conviction,  the  license  shall  be  forfeited  and  the  offenders 
deemed  guilty  of  keeping  a  disorderly  house. 

Owing  to  the  conditions  existing  in  different  parts  of  the  state  in  regard 
to  population,  occupation,  geographical  situation,  it 
Law  Enforce  very  difficult  to  sum  up  the  general  conditions  in 
regard  to  the  liquor  business  in  a  general  way.  Jersey 
ment  Vanes  cj^y  ^^^j^  ^.jjg  adjacent  municipalities  located  on  the 
Hudson  River  just  opposite  New  York  has  a  large 
cosmopolitan  population.    It  is  the  terminal ^of  ^all  the  great  railroads 


62 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


and  many  of  the  large  ocean  steamboat  lines.  In  certain  parts  of 
this  locaHty  there  is  a  large  German  population,  who  it  is  well  known 
are  accustomed  to  drinking  beer  at  all  times.  While  being  in  close 
proximity  to  New  York  City  and  the  large  number  of  men  employed  on 
the  shore  front  loading  and  unloading  vessels  and  cars,  brings  together 
a  rather  rough  element  and  at  times  very  undesirable  people. 

The  city  of  Newark,  fourteen  miles  further  inland  is  one  of  the  largest 
manufacturing  cities,  with  a  population  of  something  over  300,000,  with 
about  4,000  manufacturers.  While  the  city  of  Paterson,  only  a  few  miles 
farther  off,  with  a  population  of  something  over  120,000,  is  another  manu- 
facturing city  in  which  are  many  silk  mills,  and  the  city  of  Elizabeth,  with 
about  60,000,  people  might  also  be  classed  as  one  of  our  manufacturing  cities, 
as  here  are  located  the  Singer  Sewing  Machine  works,  and  the  Standard 
Oil  Company  are  now  erecting  one  of  the  largest  refineries  in  this  country. 

At  the  other  end  of  the  state  as  stated  above  and  along  the  coast,  there 
is  a  large  pleasure-seeking  community,  coming  from  all  parts  of  the  world, 
to  be  contended  with.  In  the  inland  cities  there  were  found  very  few 
violations  of  the  excise  laws.  The  liquor  dealers  seem  to  be  content  with 
the  present  condition,  and  with  the  selling  of  liquor  on  six  days  of  the  week. 
The  principal  violations  are  to  be  found  in  the  seaside  resorts  and  the 
larger  cities.  The  reasons  for  these  violations  could  be  summed  up  in 
this  manner,  (i)  Political  influences  and  arbitrary  interference  of 
political  leaders  in  regard  to  the  granting  of  licenses,  and  the  enforcement 
of  the  laws.  (2)  The  apparent  disinclination  of  officers  whose  power  it 
is  to  grant  licenses,  to  insist  on  proper  regulations  being  complied  with, 
and  that  the  character  of  the  applicant  be  thoroughly  investigated  before 
the  license  is  granted;  the  tendency  to  grant  more  licenses  than  are  con- 
ducive to  public  good  in  order  to  get  the  revenue  and 
Reasons  for  reduce  the  taxes  in  the  municipality.  Also  the 
Variation  apparent  inclination  of  officials  and  police  officers, 

whose  duty  it  is  to  enfore  the  law,  to  do  so  only  so  far 
as  they  are  forced  to  by  pubHc  opinion.  (3)  To  the  brewery  influences 
in  creating  greater  number  of  saloons  than  are  conducive  to  the  public 
good,  in  order  to  get  an  output  for  their  beer.  (4)  The  persistent  deter- 
mination of  the  drinking  public  to  procure  drink  during  prohibited  hours, 
and  in  places  where  no  licenses  are  granted  simply  because  they  know  it 
is  contrary  to  law. 

Whatever  may  be  the  experience  in  other  states,  the  brewery  influence 
in  the  state  of  New  Jersey  is  very  large.  It  is  estimated  that  the  breweries 
control  at  least  70  per  cent  if  not  more  of  all  the  licensed  places  in  the 
state,  and  they  bring  their  influence  to  bear  politically  and  in  other  ways, 
to  create  as  large  a  number  of  places  as  possible,  so  as  to  procure  an  out- 
put for  their  beer. 

The  control  of  the  brewery  over  the  saloon  is  brought  about  by  several 
methods:  (i)  By  owning  the  property  where  the  license  is  granted. 
In  this  case  the  brewer  owns  the  real  estate  and  either  rents  or  leases 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


63 


the  property  to  the  saloon  keeper  for  a  term  of  years,  or  from  year  to 
year  or  from  month  to  month,  as  the  case  may  be. 
The  Control        (2)  Where  the  brewer  takes  the  lease  of  a  property 
of  the  for  ^  ^o^S  period  and  sublets  to  the  saloon-keeper  for  a 

Brewery  shorter  period.     (3)  Where  a  brewer  takes  a  chattel 

mortgage  for  the  saloon-keeper  upon  his  stock  and  fix- 
tures, such  chattel  mortgage  being  taken  as  security  for  notes,  on  the  pur- 
chase price  of  the  business  and  furniture.  (4)  By  the  brewer  advancing 
money  to  pay  the  license  fee  for  the  saloon  keeper,  this  money  to  be  repaid 
in  weekly  or  monthly  payments,  during  the  year,  the  brewer  taking  a  power 
of  attorney  for  the  transfer  of  the  license  and  recording  same  with  the 
municipal  or  county  clerk,  thus  preventing  a  saloon-keeper  from  trans- 
ferring or  selling  his  license  without  the  brewer's  consent.  Which  ever 
method  is  used,  as  a  usual  thing  the  brewer  makes  an  agreement  with  the 
saloon-keeper  that  no  other  beer,  except  that  manufactured  by  the  brewer, 
shall  be  sold,  and  the  brewer  in  this  way  has  full  control  over  the  saloon- 
keeper, by  which  he  insures  the  sale  of  the  output,  and  secures  the  pay- 
ment of  the  money  loaned  or  advanced,  without  in  any  way  making 
himself  responsible  for  violations  of  the  law  or  conduct  of  the  business  of 
the  saloon-keeper. 

While  the  brewers  admit  the  above,  they  claim  that  to  the  best  of 
their  power  they  endeavor  to  induce  their  customers  to  obey  the  law, 
maintaining,  however,  that  under  the  laws  the  saloon-keeper  is  as  free  in 
his  action  as  any  other  person,  and  it  is  only  by  moral,  not  by  physical 
means  that  they  can  control  him,  and  that  the  relations  of  the  brewers  and 
the  retail  trade  are  the  same  as  in  the  other  business  and  there  is  no 
mystic  chain  linking  them  together.  They  also  claim  that  the  relations 
between  the  brewer  and  the  retail  dealer  are  not  so  great  in  many  instances 
as  that  of  many  other  wholesale  dealers,  such  as  cigar  manufacturers, 
grocers,  provision  dealers,  mineral  water  dealers,  ice  and  coal  dealers,  not 
to  mention  others  that  are  financially  more  interested  than  the  brewers. 
Admitting  the  claim  of  the  brewers  to  be  true  to  a  certain  extent,  it 
seems  only  reasonable  that  the  brewers  or  any  one  else  directly  or  indirectly 
interested  in  any  saloon  should  be  held  jointly  responsible  with  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  saloon  if  the  said  saloon  is  run  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the 
state. 

As  it  now  stands  in  this  state  in  the  case  of  a  violation  the  brewer  or 
wholesale  dealer  holding  a  power  of  attorney,  immediately  transfers  it 
to  some  other  party,  before  the  defendant  can  be  brought  to  trial;  Thus 
saving  the  license  and  the  place  where  the  license  is  granted,  which  is 
absolutely  wrong. 

The  questions  now  before  us  in  this  state  is  to  try  to  untangle  all  com- 
plications in  the  present  laws,  and  to  frame  such  laws  as  will  prevent  as 
far  as  possible  future  violations,  under  which  all  guilty  parties  can 
be  brought  to  justice.  It  could  be  honestly  said  that  a  large  number 
of  persons,  in  fact  the  majority  of  persons  holding  licenses  for  the  sale 


64 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


of  liquor  are  intelligent,  respectable,  good  citizens,  who  desire  to  con- 
duct their  business  well  and  in  a  proper  manner.  There  is  no  class  of  men 
more  anxious  to  have  proper  laws  enacted  and  proper 
The  Present  legislation  enforced,  under  which  they  can  carry  on  their 
Problem  business  and  be  looked  up  to  as  law-abiding  citizens, 

without  being  considered  as  criminals,  and  law  breakers, 
than  the  legitimate  manufacturer  and  dealer  in  wines  and  liquors.  The 
other  class  are  men  who  have  absolutely  no  respectj  for  law  and  should 
be  driven  out  of  the  business.  And  it  is  this  last  class  of  men  that  all 
legislation  must  be  directed  against. 

There  is  one  thing  that  seems  perfectly  apparent,  that  as  long  as  liquor 
is  manufactured  and  brought  into  a  state,  it  will  be  sold  and  drank,  license 
or  no  license.  Therefore  it  becomes  necessary  to  enact  reasonable  and 
sensible  laws  in  regard  to  the  regulation  of  the  liquor  business  that  can 
be  enforced  and  to  provide  means  for  the  enforcement  so  that  the  legiti- 
mate and  respectable  dealers  may  be  protected  and  the  others  brought 
to  justice.  If  the  licensing  power  could  be  placed  in  such  a  manner  that 
a  careful  investigation  were  made  not  only  in  regard  to  the  character 
of  the  applicant,  but  to  the  location  of  the  place  where  the  liquor  was  to 
be  sold,  and  abitrarily  refuse  to  grant  licenses  to  any  one  that  did  not 
have  a  good  character  and  standing  in  a  community,  and  that  should  it 
develop  that  a  place  was  not  even  technically  conducted  in  a  proper 
manner,  even  though  the  violations  were  not  such  as  to  cause  an 
arrest  or  conviction,  that  at  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  the  license  it 
would  be  impossible  to  get  a  renewal,  this  would  go  a  great  ways  in  clean- 
ing out  undesirable  applicants. 

The  next  important  question  is  the  proper  enforcement  of  the  law  and 
such  regulations  and  provisions  as  would  make  delinquent  officials  and 
office  holders  do  their  duty.  Where  the  people  insist  on  electing  persons 
to  office  who  continually  neglect  and  refuse  to  do  their  duty,  the  enforce- 
ment of  law  is  absolutely  impossible.  And  such  officials  and  office-holders 
who  continually  neglect  and  refuse  to  do  their  duty,  whether  in  the 
enforcement  of  the  excise  laws  or  any  other  laws,  should  be  removed  from 
office,  and  their  action  or  neglect  of  action  should  be  considered  as  a 
misdemeanor.  The  power  to  revoke  should  be  placed  with  such  an 
authority  as  would  provide  for  a  fair  hearing  on  both  sides,  and  a  con- 
viction of  any  of  the  conditions  for  the  regulation  of  the  liquor  traffic, 
should  carry  with  it  a  revocation  of  the  license.  If  these  three  questions 
could  be  decided  in  a  practical  manner  all  the  other  matters  and  condi- 
tions in  regard  to  the  liquor  traffic  could  be  easily  arranged  and  carried  out. 

The  question  of  local  option  is  one  that  has  been  agitated  in  the  state 
of  New  Jersey  for  some  time,  and  is  still  being  agitated, 
Municipal  and  will  probably  be  before  the  Legislature  this  winter. 

Home  Rule  As  a  principle  of  home  rule,  there  seems  to  be  no  ques- 
tion but  that  the  residents  of  a  municipality  should 
have  the  right  to  decide  whether  or  not  liquor  should  be  sold  or  not  be 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


6S 


sold  in  that  municipality.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  unit  should  be 
municipality  and  not  the  state  or  the  county,  and  the  only  question 
should  be,  "How  is  the  best  way  and  the  most  practical  way  to  bring 
this  matter  before  the  people  to  accomplish  the  desired  result?"  The 
matter  should  be  so  brought  before  the  people  as  to  honestly  and  fairly 
carry  out  their  wishes  in  the  matter,  but  at  the  same  time  it  should 
be  borne  in  mind  that  many  places  where  the  vote  would  be  for  the  sale 
of  liquor,  it  would  be  necessary  to  have  strict  regulations,  therefore  it 
seems  to  me  that  before  any  local  option  measure  is  adopted,  in  any 
state,  that  the  state  should  enact  a  strict  regulation  law  in  regard  to  the 
liquor  traffic,  so  that  in  places  where  licenses  are  voted  for,  the  business 
will  be  conducted  properly.  How  this  can  be  best  brought  about,  is 
a  matter  for  future  discussion.  The  question  of  selling  liquor  on  Sunday, 
whether  in  saloons  or  hotels  and  restaurants  with  meals,  is  entirely  another 
question  which  should  not  be  confounded  with  the  question  of  local 
option 

I  have  accepted  the  invitation  to  take  part  in  this  discussion.  At  the 
present  time  as  Chairman  of  the  New  Jersey  Excise  Commission,  for  the 
investigation  of  this  law,  I  am  a  seeker  after  information.  The  report 
of  the  Commission  must  be  in  the  Governor's  hands  by  the  15th  of  De- 
cember, and  I  have  purposely  avoided  giving  any  definite  explanation  of 
my  own  views,  or  those  of  any  other  member  of  the  Commission,  for  the 
reason  that  until  all  of  these  questions  are  fairly  decided  upon,  and  the 
report  has  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Governor  of  the  State  of  New 
Jersey,  it  would  not  seem  proper  or  fair  to  others,  that  I  should  do  so. 
I  might  add,  however,  that  there  are  several  questions  of  importance  that 
it  might  be  well  to  discuss,  such  as  the  question  of  selling  liquor  in  drug 
stores.  This  is  a  matter  that  in  justice  not  only  to  the  people  but  to 
the  liquor  dealers  should  be  carefully  looked  into  as  some  dealers  in  drug 
stores  and  pharmacists  and  even  doctors  derive  the  larger  portion  of  their 
income  and  business  from  the  selling  of  liquor  under  various  names,  con- 
trary to  law,  in  drug  stores.  Another  question  is  the  purity  of  liquor 
sold,  both  beer,  distilled  liquors  and  wines,  which  at  present  the  pure  food 
laws  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  various  states  do  not  cover.  As  a 
great  deal  of  stuff  is  sold  and  manufactured  under  the  name  of  a  compound, 
that  is  absolutely  not  fit  to  drink,  and  is  very  injurious  to  the  health, 
a  standard  of  purity  should  be  fixed  for  all  malt  brewed,  vinous,  distilled 
or  other  intoxicating  liquors,  and  it  should  be  a  state's  prison  offense  for 
any  one  to  dispose  of  or  give  it  away,  or  have  in  their  possession  for  the 
purpose  of  selling,  any  of  these  deleterious  concoctions. 

As  I  understand  that  this  session  principally  bears  on  the  political  and 
municipal  phases  of  the  liquor  problem,  I  have  not  attempted  to  go  into 
the  question  of  crime,  or  dependency,  or  other  evils,  directly  or  indirectly 
due  to  the  use  or  abuse  of  alcoholic  liquors. 

Whatever  may  be  the  situation  in  other  states,  it  is  very  apparent  that 
in  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  there  are  entirely  too  many  licensed  places 


66 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


for  the  sale  of  liquor.  This  number  must  be  reduced  and  the  only  practi- 
cal way  seems  to  be  to  increase  the  license  fee  and  limit  the  number  of 
licensed  places  in  proportion  to  the  population. 

The  Chairman:  We  will  now  hear  from  A.  JuUus  Freiberg,  Esq.,  Cin- 
cinnati. 

Mr.  Freiberg:  I  don't  know  that  after  this  very  eloquent  discussion 
you  have  heard  I  can  add  an>i;hing  to  the  subject  in  hand.  I  can  remem- 
ber that  about  fifteen  years  ago  when  I  was  an  undergraduate  I  wrote  a 
thesis  on  the  Gothenberg  system,  and  I  concluded  that  that  thesis  of  mine 
had  fixed  things  for  time  and  eternity.  But  now  at  this  moment  I  really 
believe  that  I  cannot  remember  what  the  Gothenberg  system  is,  although 
I  have  some  faint  ideas  on  the  subject.  However,  I  have  been  engaged 
to  some  extent  in  the  reform  or  attempted  reform  of  political  conditions 
in  my  home  town,  and  I  have  also  been  interested  to  a  large  extent  in 
the  liquor  question  in  my  own  town  and  in  my  own  state,  and  I  have 
some  fairly  definite  conclusions  on  the  subject. 

If  I  may  say  so  without  attempting  to  patronize,  I  think  Professor 
Hatton's  was  one  of  the  most  complete  analyses  I  have  ever  heard  pre- 
sented and  I  am  sorry  it  did  not  arrive  at  any  definite 
The  Lack  of  conclusions  that  we  could  put  into  practice.  And  yet 
Definite  Professor  Hatton  cannot  be  blamed  for  that,  for  in  spite 

Conclusions        °^  suggestions  we  have  to  give,  you  gentlemen 

who  have  not  given  this  subject  anj'thing  but  emotional 
consideration  would  somehow  find  if  you  had  to  look  it  in  the  face,  that  it 
is  the  most  difficult  problem  we  have  to  deal  with  in  this  covmtry.  It  is 
very  unfortunate  that  the  discussion  of  the  liquor  question  in  city  affairs 
as  well  as  in  general,  has,  by  the  very  nature  of  things,  been  left  to  two 
classes,  two  extremely  prejudiced  and  untrustworthy  classes, — untrust- 
worthy on  this  subject — on  the  one  hand  the  brewers  and  the  wholesale 
liquor  dealers  and  the  distillers  and  saloon-keepers,  and  on  the  other  hand 
the  ministers  of  the  gospel.  Midway  between  the  two  there  has  been 
of  late  some  discussion  very  largely  participated  in  by  men  of  German 
birth.  Most  notable  among  these  is  the  contribution  of  Professor  Miinster- 
berg  of  Harvard  University.  And  still  even  in  Professor  Miinsterberg's 
discussion  you  can  find  some  latent  bits  of  prejudice  if  you  search  very-  far. 

To  come  now  to  the  subject  under  discussion,  that  is  to  say,  the  con- 
nection between  the  saloon-keepers  and  the  liquor  question  and  distinctly 
local  city  affairs.  It  seems  to  me  that  Professor  Hatton  has  gone  over  the 
ground  pretty  fairly  with  perhaps  one  exception.  Now,  before  I  come  to 
the  point  that  I  refer  to,  I  want  to  say  this,  I  am  very  much  opposed  to 
prohibition,  not  merely  because  it  does  not  prohibit  or  because  of  a  great 
many  other  reasons,  but  because  I  do  not  believe  that  you  ought  to  pro- 
hibit persons  from  indulging  in  intoxicating  liquor  in  moderation  if  they 
so  choose.  I  have  had  that  very  firmly  grounded  in  my  constitution 
from  childhood  up  although  I  hardly  participate  at  all  in  the  use  of  intox- 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


67 


icating  liquors.  But  I  do  not  now  believe  that  the  saloon  (although  I 
did  believe  it  at  one  time)  is  as  large  a  factor  as  such  in  municipal  affairs 
as  a  great  many  of  us  in  National  Municipal  League  have  been  led  to  think, 
and  I  have  found  that  out  in  the  last  six  months  or  a 
The  Saloon  year  in  the  State  of  Ohio.  You  would  be  surprised 
as  a  Factor  what  a  small  factor  the  combined  brewery,  whiskey 
and  saloon  interests  are  when  it  really  comes  to  a 
question  of  political  influence.  The  liquor  traffic  can  only  subsist  and 
does  subsist  in  one  form  or  another  because  the  people  as  a  whole  demand 
that  that  traffic  shall  subsist  in  one  form  or  another,  and  therefore  it 
seems  to  me  it  is  a  very  simple  proposition  that  we  must  as  the  last 
speaker  says,  so  conform  our  laws  as  in  some  measure  to  try  to  appeal  to 
the  wishes  of  the  people  as  a  whole. 

Now,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  by  you  gentlemen  who  are  very  ardent 
prohibitionists,  and  you  gentlemen  who  are  very  ardent  on  the  other  side 
of  the  fence,  that  there  is  a  class  of  persons  and  a  very  respectably  large 
sized  class  of  persons  who  do  not  agree  with  either  of  you.  It  is  a  curious 
thing,  but  the  liquor  men,  the  distillers  and  the  brewers  cannot  understand 
how  there  can  be  any  other  side  to  the  question,  and  the  preacher  when 
he  discusses  these  questions  will  not  refer  to  the  constitution  or  the  law 
or  the  right  or  the  wrong  of  it :  he  will  say  there  is  only  one  right  or  wrong, 
and  refuse  to  argue  the  question.  Now  whether  either  side  be  right  or 
wrong  is  relatively  unimportant.  There  is  as  a  matter  of  fact  a  difference 
of  opinion;  that  is  purely  a  practical  question;  a  condition  and  not  a  theory 
that  we  must  meet. 

To  come  down  to  my  point,  I  do  not  believe  that  the  saloon-keeper  of 
Cincinnati  for  example,  simpiy^jw  saloon-keeper,  has  any  more  dangerous 
influence  on  the  body  politic  than  any  other  person  interested  in  protect- 
ing his  business.  And  when  it  comes  to  joining  together  because  they 
have  a  community  of  interests,  I  think  Professor  Hatton  is  wrong.  The 
breweries  and  distilleries  blame  the  saloon-keepers  for  their  trouble,  and 
vice  versa.  I  do  not  believe  that  in  Cincinnati  the  saloon-keeper  as  such 
affects  political  conditions  any  more  than  the  same  kind  of  men  would 
affect  political  conditions  if  they  were  in  some  other  kind  of  business. 

Necessarily  our  system  of  machine  politics  contemplates  the  meeting  of 
the  clans  and  the  gathering  of  the  people  in  some  particular  place.  If 
you  did  not  have  the  saloons  to  meet  in,  these  people  would  undoubtedly 
be  somewhere  else,  and  I  do  not  know  that  it  is  a  bad  thing  to  meet  in 
saloons.  Of  course,  I  don't  mean  to  defend  the  saloon,  or  to  strike  an 
attitude;  I  am  very  serious  about  it.  I  want  you  to  see  how  it  is  perfectly 
natural  for  men  in  a  certain  plane  of  life  to  congregate  in  a  place  where 
they  choose  to  congregate,  and  if  the  situation  is  harmed  any  by  the  fact 
that  intoxicating  liquors  get  mixed  in  and  spread  over  the  slate  sometimes 
to  its  detriment,  of  course  that  is  a  bad  thing,  but  that  does  not  go  to  the 
essence  of  the  thing.  It  simply  goes  to  various  forms  of  various  methods 
of  supervision  over  these  places  that  we  may  improve  upon  if  we  try. 


68 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


I  think  that  the  chief  deleterious  effect  of  the  saloon  in  politics  as  far 
as  my  own  city  and  state  is  concerned  lies  in  the  fact  that  such  laws  are 

placed  on  the  statute  books  by  state  legislatures,  mostly 
The  Chief  by  men  from  up  country  who  are  controlled  by  the 

Deleterious  local  preacher,  who  is  the  guide,  philosopher  and  friend, 
Effect  ^®  should  be,  of  the  man  who  lives  in  the  country, 

and  a  class  of  laws  are  placed  on  the  statute  book  by 
those  men  that  the  city  people  will  not  tolerate.  I  am  not  drawing  any 
definite  conclusion  as  I  said  before,  but  what  is  the  result  of  that?  Your 
boss  in  your  large  city — we  have  Boss  Cox  in  Cincinnati — and  they  have  a 
boss  in  Cleveland  and  they  have  a  boss  in  Columbus  and  in  every  city — 
knows  perfectly  well  he  has  an  engine  in  his  hand  that  he  wants  to  perfect 
to  keep  in  power,  his  own  machine.  In  Cincinnati  we  have  sixteen  hun- 
dred saloons.  We  have  a  law  against  Sunday  selling.  If  a  citizen  should 
see  a  saloon  closed  on  Sunday  he  would  probably  stop  and  wonder  what 
was  the  matter.  The  people  in  Cincinnati,  generally  speaking,  do  not 
require  the  saloons  shall  be  closed  on  Sunday,  and  there  rarely  would 
be  any  trouble  if  it  were  not  for  the  fact  that  if  at  any  time  a  saloon- 
keeper refuses  to  conform  to  the  rules  of  the  machine  the  boss  very  con- 
veniently hauls  that  man  over  the  coals.  Of  course  the  boss  owns  the 
police  magistrate.  He  hauls  the  man  up  and  points  with  pride  to  the 
statute  on  the  book;  and  the  man  promptly  coughs  up,  or  at  least  he  be- 
haves himself  for  some  time  to  come.  That  is  the  great  difficulty  so  far 
as  I  am  able  to  see,  and  so  far  as  the  saloon  is  concerned  with  politics  in 
our  own  city. 

There  is  not  time  for  me  to  go  into  this  subject  any  more  deeply,  because 
it  is  a  tremendous  subject,  and  if  I  have  only  appealed  to  you,  to  those  of 
you  who  are  prohibitionists,  or  those  of  you  who  are  on  the  fence,  or  those 
of  you  who  are  brewers  or  distillers  to  try  and  feel  when  you  are  coming 
to  a  conclusion  on  the  subject  that  there  are  other  respectable  persons 
who  disagree  with  you,  I  think  I  shall  have  done  something. 

In  conclusion  I  want  to  advert  to  one  thing  which  I  think  I  may  safely 
say  most  students  of  the  subject,  even  with  their  limited  means,  agree 
upon,  and  that  is  the  system  of  licenses.  We  have  a  system  in  Ohio  under 
which  the  state  taxes  the  city  on  every  saloon  wherever  it  happens  to  find 
it.  We  have  a  constitution  in  Ohio  which  prohibits  the  Ucensing  of 
saloons.  That  is  a*  very  curious  story,  but  the  supreme  court  has  always 
gotten  around  that  by  saying  that  the  tax  is  not  a 
The  Ohio  license,  it  was  a  tax.    Of  course  since  the  tax  was  raised 

System  from  five  himdred  dollars  to  a  thousand  dollars  a  num- 

ber of  saloons  have  been  put  out  of  existence.  But 
it  does  no  good  when  it  comes  to  the  keeping  out  of  business  of  the  bad 
element  (if  you  will  agree  there  is  any  good  element  in  the  business).  If 
we  have  some  kind  of  a  system  of  license  which  not  only  the  brewers  and 
distillers  are  calling  for  but  also  the  temperance  people  in  their  desire  to 
do  something  regarding  the  traffic,  we  should  be  very  much  better  off. 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


69 


Now,  it  seems  to  me  that  half  the  difficulties  that  the  licensing  state  has 
to  deal  with  lies  in  its  form  of  licensing  authority  or  lies  in  the  fact  that 
the  license  must  be  renewed  periodically.  If  you  would  only  devise  some 
system  by  which  that  license  should  give  to  the  saloon-keeper  a  reward  as 
well  as  a  punishment,  make  it  possible  for  him  to  look  upon  his  business 
as  an  asset,  make  it  so  that  at  any  time  that  saloon-keeper  misbehaves 
he  shall  be  tried  once  or  fined,  or  imprisoned,  if  you  please,  tried  another 
time  and  his  license  revoked  perpetually,  you  might  to  some  extent  find 
a  system  by  which  you  could  regulate  the  traffic  by  making  it  more 
respectable,  and  if  you  get  more  respectable  men  selling  liquor  to  those 
who  desire  to  drink  you  would  at  least  lessen  the  troubles  we  have  to  deal 
with.  There  are  a  great  many  other  things  I  would  like  to  say,  gentlemen, 
but  my  time  is  up. 

The  Chairman:  This  completes  the  program  for  the  morning. 

Mr.  Hugh  F.  Fox,  New  York:  Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  I 
have  been  very  highly  complimented  by  being  raised  in  the  same  class 
with  our  friend,  Dr.  Peters.  He  represents  the  untrustworthy  class  spoken 
of  as  the  ministers.    I  represent  the  United  States  Brewers'  Association. 

This  discussion  this  morning  is  fairly  baffling.  There  are  a  hundred  points 
that  have  been  raised  to  challenge  discussion,  and  I  trust  at  least  this  im- 
pression has  been  left  with  you  that  the  question  is  a  very  great  and  difficult 
and  complex  question;  that  it  needs  very  careful  study,  and  that  it  is 
such  a  question  as  may  well  be  given  very  much  further  consideration  by 
the  National  Municipal  League.  And  in  two  minutes  I  just  want  to  say 
this,  that  it  seems  to  me  that  the  National  Municipal  League  has  a  very 
serious  responsibility  in  connection  with  this  matter.  Amid  all  the  con- 
flicts of  this  question  and  all  of  the  distortions  and 
Need  for  exaggerations  and  misstatements  that  have  been  made 

Investigations  upon  both  sides,  this  much  has  been  gained,  that  a 
separate  inquiry  has  been  started,  that  there  is  a  deter- 
mination to  grapple  with  this  question,  that  there  are  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  people  whose  attention  has  been  directed  to  it  in  this  country 
now,  and  who  are  ready  for  leadership  and  who  want  information.  I 
believe  that  the  National  Municipal  League  and  similar  bodies  which  rep- 
resent students  of  government  have  the  responsibility  at  this  time  of  using 
constructively  this  great  sentiment  which  has  been  started  and  this  spirit 
of  inquiry  so  that  out  of  all  this  discussion  some  good  may  come  and  some 
progress  may  be  made.  I  believe  that  it  would  be  a  splendid  thing  if 
the  National  Municipal  League  could  establish  some  commission  of  inves- 
tigation, such,  for  example  as  the  Committee  of  Fifty  to  which  reference 
has  been  made,  or  would  spend  time  enough  and  would  procure  adequate 
ability  really  to  study  this  question,  not  in  an  academic  way,  not  by  the 
questionnaire  method,  but  study  it  personally  by  investigation  and  research 
and  comparison,  so  that  there  might  be  a  program  that  would  be  of  some 


70 


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help  to  the  whole  people  from  the  standpoint  of  government  and  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  community  interest. 

As  a  law  abiding  brewer,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  going  to  recognize  the 
closing  hours,  and  I  just  want  to  say  in  conclusion  that  I  believe  the  inter- 
ests of  the  brewer  and  the  interests  of  all  classes  in  the  trade,  the  real  inter- 
est, both  as  brewer  and  citizen,  coincide  with  that  of  the  community  and 
that  the  best  thing  that  can  happen  for  the  brewing  trade  is  to  have  a 
permanent  and  stable  condition  of  trade  established  by  legislation  which 
will  give  men  of  responsibility  in  the  business  an  opportunity  to  feel  that 
it  is  a  business  that  they  can  profitably  follow,  and  that  it  is  not  subject 
to  the  odium  which  is  at  present,  either  justly  or  unjustly,  attached  to  it, 
and  I  only  trust  that  in  the  proceedings  of  the  conference  Mr.  Fisk's  work 
in  New  Jersey  will  be  enlarged  on  more  fully,  and  that  he  will  tell  the 
League  about  the  very  able  work  he  has  done  as  Mayor  of  Plainfield  in 
handling  this. 

And  I  want  to  thank  Professor  Hatton  for  the  ablest  addition  to  this  sub- 
ject we  have  received  since  the  reports  were  published.  And  I  entirely  agree 
with  all  his  many  contentions,  and  I  think  you  will  be  interested  to  know 
that  the  United  States  Brewers'  Association  in  feeling  the  need  of  enlight- 
enment on  this  subject  has  recently  secured  the  services  of  a  group  of 
people  who  have  been  preparing  a  bibliography  of  the  subject.  They  have 
spent  the  summer  visiting  all  the  public  libraries  of  this  country  and  Europe 
and  we  hope  that  within  three  months  to  present  a  complete  bibliography 
since  1893  in  all  languages  which  I  think  will  be  a  pretty  formidable  docu- 
ment. 

Mr.  James  W.  Houston,  Pittsburgh,  submitted  the  following  remarks: 

Having  been  an  active  participant  in  every  reform  movement  in  Pitts- 
burgh for  the  past  twenty  years;  and  having  also  studied  the  liquor  prob- 
lem in  a  practical  way  for  the  same  period,  I  may  perhaps  claim  to  be 
qualified  to  speak  on  this  subject. 

In  the  memorable  reform  movement  in  this  city  just  before  the  enact- 
ment of  the  Brooks  law,  the  problem  of  law-enforcement  was  presented 
in  an  acute  form.  The  fifteen  hundred  saloons  in  Pittsburgh  and  Alle- 
gheny ignored  the  law  against  Sunday  liquor  selling.  The  mayor  and  the 
police  officials  refused  to  enforce  the  law.  Public  sentiment  tolerated 
Sunday  liquor  selling  as  a  necessary  evil. 

A  few  courageous  citizens  appreciating  the  gravity  of  the  situation  and 
the  growing  menace  of  a  spirit  of  lawlessness,  formed  an  organization  for 
the  enforcement  of  law.  After  warning,  which  was 
Law  unheeded,  a  number  of  prosecutions  were  instituted. 

Enforcement  Encouraged  by  the  sympathy  and  even  the  aid  of  the 
police  officials,  the  saloons  were  defiant.  The  contest 
waxed  warm.  Intimidation  was  tried,  even  personal  assault.  The  league 
was  steadfast  and  determined.  The  campaign  lasted  a  year  during  which 
544  convictions  for  Sunday  liquor  selling  were  secured,  and  fines  imposed 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


71 


aggregating  $27,500.  The  victory  was  complete.  The  league  continued 
operations  for  two  years  longer,  but  its  chief  work  was  gathering 
evidence  for  use  in  the  license  court.  Sunday  liquor  selling  was  so 
thoroughly  stamped  out  that  this  form  of  violation  has  been  rare  in 
Pittsburgh  ever  since. 

I  have  presented  this  concrete  illustration  to  show  the  fallacy  of  the 
proposition  that  laws  against  the  saloon  cannot  be  enforced  unless  backed 
by  public  sentiment.  It  all  depends  on  the  man  behind  the  law.  Such 
laws  can  be  as  well  enforced  as  other  laws  against  crime.  This  has  been 
demonstrated  again  and  again  in  recent  years.  Roosevelt  as  police  com- 
missioner of  New  York  enforced  the  law  against  Sunday  liquor  selling. 
Governor  Folk  compelled  the  enforcement  of  the  same  law  in  St.  Louis. 

A  still  more  notable  instance  is  the  recent  effective  enforcement  of  pro- 
hibition in  Kansas  City,  Kan.,  by  Assistant  Attorney  General  Trickett, 
in  the  face  of  the  protests  of  the  business  interests  and  of  the  opposition 
of  the  police  oificials 

I  am  convinced  that  the  failure  to  enforce  laws  against  the  saloon  is 
chargeable  to  the  subserviency  or  cowardice  of  executives  and  police 
officials.  Such  officials  should  be  classed  with  the  soldier  in  time  of  war 
who  is  guilty  of  cowardice  in  the  presence  of  the  enemy.  They  should  be 
branded  as  cowards  and  punished  with  political  death.  No  man  should 
accept  public  office  who  is  not  resolved  to  perform  his  sworn  duty  even  at 
the  risk  of  his  life.  When  the  rulers  of  our  cities  are  actuated  by  this 
spirit  there  will  be  no  question  about  the  enforcement  of  liquor  laws. 

We  are  slowly  learning  that  citizenship  in  time  of  peace  demands  as  high 
patriotism,  courage  and  sacrifice  as  in  time  of  war.  Instead  of  condoning 
lawlessness  or  compromising  with  it,  we  should  seek  to  raise  the  standard 
of  municipal  service  to  this  high  level. 

There  is  another  side  to  this  question  which  is  entirely 
Effect  of  Law  overlooked  by  the  advocates  of  compromise.  The 
Enforcement  enforcement  of  law  is  educational.  The  practical  dem- 
onstration that  a  law  can  be  enforced  and  the  marked 
betterment  in  the  community  resulting  from  such  enforcement,  create 
a  favorable  public  sentiment. 

The  converse  is  equally  true:  Non-enforcement  of  law  debases  public 
sentiment  and  this  debasement  is  progressive  even  to  the  limit  of  moral 
paralysis.  But  this  is  not  all.  Contempt  for  one  law  begets  contempt 
for  law  in  general.  The  contagion  of  lawlessness  spreads,  producing  a 
frightful  increase  of  crime  and  a  general  feeling  of  insecurity. 

There  are  gratifying  evidences  that  we  are  entering  on  a  new  era.  The 
type  of  time-serving  officials  is  passing.  A  new  type  of  bold  fearless  offi- 
cials is  coming  to  the  front. 

And  now  just  a  word  with  reference  to  the  final  solution  of  the  liquor 
problem. 

We  learn  from  history  that  the  people  in  dealing  with  great  evils  in- 
variably resort  to  compromise  and  regulation  first  in  the  vain  effort  to 


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PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


arrive  at  a  settlement.  Only  after  the  demonstrated  failure  of  such  devices 
are  the  people  driven  to  the  only  final  solution.  It  was  so  with  the  slavery 
question;  it  was  so  with  the  lottery.  It  is  so  with  the  liquor  problem.  All 
sorts  of  regulations  have  been  tried,  low  license,  high  license,  greater 
restriction,  state  dispensary.  All  of  these  have  been  found  unsatisfactory. 
Indications  multiply  that  the  people  have  wearied  of  experiments  and 
have  reached  the  conclusion  that  the  final  settlement  of  the  liquor  prob- 
lem is  the  banishment  of  the  saloon. 

Leaders  of  thought  are  apparently  in  harmony  with  this  trend  of  senti- 
ment. One  of  the  most  significant  utterances  indicating  the  change  of 
attitude  of  this  class  is  that  of  President  Eliot  of  Harvard  University. 
Referring  to  his  being  brought  up  to  respect  exact  science  and  to  keep 
an  open  mind  on  all  questions,  he  says:  "I  suppose  that  is  the  reason 
why,  as  I  have  grown  older  and  have  seen  more,  I  have  changed  my  view 
about  license  and  no-license.  I  feel  that  much  has  been  proved  showing 
that  it  is  physically  and  mentally  and  morally  for  the  advantage  of  a 
population  as  a  whole  to  go  without  alcoholics  as  a  rule. 

"What  is  the  justification  of  interference  with  that  (human)  liberty? 
There  are  a  good  many  questions  concerning  which  we  must  ask  that 
question — the  justification  for  interference  with  liberty.  I  found  that 
justification  in  the  experience  of  Cambridge  under  a  no-license  system. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  the  collective  good,  by  excluding  saloons  from  Cam- 
bridge, justified  the  abridgement  of  the  individual  liberty,  particularly 
when  that  liberty  was  a  liberty  to  use  for  pleasure  something  that  was 
unwholesome. 

"I  have  found  in  that  fact  that  justification  for  interference  with  per- 
sonal liberty  to  that  extent — the  exclusion  of  the  saloon." 

This  utterance  of  President  Eliot  based  on  the  latest  conclusions  of 
science  and  on  his  own  observation,  is  in  marked  contrast  to  the  report 
of  the  Committee  of  Fifty  some  years  ago,  of  which  he  was  a  member. 

The  meeting  then  took  a  recess  until  two-thirty  p.m. 

TUESDAY  AFTERNOON  SESSION. 

Ttiesday,  November  17,  1908,  2.45  p.  m. 
The  fourth  session  of  the  Conference  was  called  to  order  in  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  rooms  by  Horace  E.  Deming,  Esq.,  chair- 
man of  the  Executive  Committee. 

The  Chairman:  We  will  begin  the  afternoon  session  by  some  announce- 
ments by  our  secretary. 

Secretary  Woodruff  announced  that  Mr.  Reynolds  had  been  detained 
at  Washington  at  a  conference  held  by  the  President  and  would  therefore 
not  be  present  until  later  to  read  his  paper;  that  Professor  Fairlie  had  been 
delayed  and  would  not  be  present  to  read  his  paper  until  tomorrow;  that 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


73 


Professor  Lowell  had  prepared  a  paper  with  the  xinderstanding  he  would  not 
be  required  to  be  present,  and  that  it  would  be  printed  in  the  proceedings. 

Prof.  A.  Lawrence  Lowell's  paper  on  ' '  Permanent  Officers  in  Municipal 
Government"  was  then  presented.    (See  Appendix.) 

The  report  of  Prof.  William  Bennett  Munro  on  "The  Present  Status  of 
Instruction  in  Municipal  Government  in  American  Colleges  and  Univer- 
sities" was  read  by  Mr.  Woodruff.    (See  Appendix.) 

The  Chairman:  The  report  of  Professor  Munro  proves  conclusively 
the  growth  of  a  demand  and  desire  to  supply  the  demand  for  intelligent 
knowledge  of  municipal  government.  We  shall  now  listen  to  a  paper  by 
Mr.  H.  D.  W.  English  of  Pittsburgh  on  one  of  the  most  important  ques- 
tions now  beginning  to  engage  the  attention  of  business  bodies  throughout 
the  country,  "The  Function  of  Business  Bodies  in  Improving  Civic  Con- 
ditions. "  [Applause.] 

Mr.  English  then  read  his  paper,  which  is  printed  in  full  in  the  Appendix. 

The  Chairman:  We  will  now  have  Mr.  Paine's  paper  on  "The  Initia- 
tive, the  Referendum  and  the  Recall  in  American  Cities." 

Mr.  Paine  then  read  his  paper,  which  is  printed  in  the  Appendix. 

Thb  Chairman:  Two  of  the  most  live  topics  of  the  day  in  regard  to  city 
government  are  open  for  discussion.  One,  the  value  of  the  unselfish 
patriotic  interest  of  business  bodies  in  the  civic  matters  of  cities,  and  the 
other  the  progress  toward  home  rule  and  the  government  of  our  cities 
toward  securing  a  government  there  which  shall  be  representative  of  the 
public  opinion  of  the  voters  of  those  cities,  by  means  of  the  initiative,  refer- 
endum and  the  recall.  We  have  plenty  of  time  to  discuss  either  or  both 
of  those  topics  and  reasonably  short  speeches  on  either  of  those  topics — 
and  by  "reasonably"  I  mean  those  that  seem  to  your  chairman  reasonably 
short, — will  be  welcomed. 

Mr.  George  Burnham,  Jr.,  Philadelphia :  Mr.  Chairman:  1  would  like  to 
say  a  very  few  words  on  the  question  brought  up  by  Mr.  English.  I  think 
we  all  feel  that  Mr.  English  has  presented  the  matter  in  an  admirable  way 
and  has  shown  what  can  be  done  by  commercial  organization.  But  per- 
haps it  would  be  interesting  to  know  what  sometimes 
Difficulties  in  happens,  and  what  the  difficulties  are  in  such  move- 
the  Wa  of  ments  on  the  part  of  commercial  bodies  and  what  some- 
^  ,  times  happens  when  the  question  is  taken  up  by  such 

commercial  bodies.  They  have  more  dynamite  in  them  than  some 
Organizations  of  the  matters  that  I  see  by  the  report  of  the  Pitts- 
burgh Chamber  of  Commerce  have  been  discussed  by 
it,  such  as  the  improvement  in  the  milk  supply  and  even  in  the  civil 
service  law. 

I  am  a  member  of  the  Trades  League  of  Philadelphia.  We  had  for  some 
time  a  committee  upon  street  cars.  This  committee  had  gone  into  an 
exhaustive  inquiry  into  the  service,  and  had  criticised  the  service  pretty 
vigorously.    Now  something  like  a  year  ago  a  proposed  contract  was 


74 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


suddenly  sprung  on  Philadelphia  by  the  street  car  company  that  would 
tie  up  the  city  for  fifty  years  and  more  with  the  company,  and  in  which 
the  city  would  surrender  very  valuable  privileges.  The  street  car  commit- 
tee of  the  Trades  League  took  the  question  up  and  made  a  very  careful 
and  exhaustive  study  of  it,  and  opposed  this  contract  very  vigorously 
as  it  was  thought  it  was  not  to  the  city's  interest. 

The  League's  Committee  appeared  before  the  legislature  and  opposed 
the  enabling  act  which  was  before  the  legislature  and  which  was  passed. 
The  street  car  people  then  commenced  to  back  fire  on  the  Trades  League. 
Of  course  the  street  car  securities  are  very  widely  distributed.  They  are 
in  the  banks  as  securities  for  loans,  and  a  systematic  effort  was  made  to 
have  resignations  from  the  Trades  League  pour  in  upon  us.  They  came 
in  in  very  large  numbers.  I  need  not  say  to  you,  that  we  had  to  limit  our 
activities  a  little,  but  the  mischief  so  far  as  we  were  concerned  was  done. 
The  committee's  report  had  been  published,  it  was  not  convincing  ap- 
parently to  the  council  because  the  contract  was  passed  by  a  large  majority. 

I  only  mention  this  as  one  of  the  difficulties  that  trade  organizations  are 
going  to  have  when  they  enter  into  civic  work.  I  don't  of  course  present 
it  as  an  argument  why  they  should  not.  I  think  it  is  a  pretty  convincing 
argument  why  they  should.  The  fact  that  the  financial  interests  in  Phila- 
delphia that  were  connected  with  the  street-car  committee  were  not  will- 
ing to  have  the  light  thrown  in  upon  the  contract  is  pretty  good  evidence 
why  business  organizations  should  take  up  this  sort  of  work  more  fre- 
quently than  they  do.  [Applause.] 

Dr.  Graham  Taylor,  Chicago:  We  had  a  somewhat  different  experi- 
ence in  Chicago.  The  street  car  franchise  situation  was  taken  up  by  a 
semi-political  organization  of  non-partisan  individuals 
Chicago's  composed  of  business  and  professional  men,  namely  the 

Street  Car  Municipal  Voters  League.    The  object  of  that  league  was 

Experience  *°  secure  honest  and  capable  men  for  the  city  council 

of  Chicago.  About  twelve  or  thirteen  years  ago  it  set 
out  on  a  campaign  of  publicity.  An  agent  of  the  league  was  stationed  in 
the  city  council  at  every  session  to  check  up  every  vote  of  every  alderman. 
Every  candidate  for  the  alderman's  position  was  investigated;  his  career 
was  thoroughly  investigated  in  regard  to  his  business  reputation,  his 
political  action  if  he  had  any,  and  his  personal  character  and  capacity.  Of 
course  whien  we  come  to  the  test,  such  tests  as  were  afforded  by  absolutely 
dishonest  and  disreputable  ordinances,  the  whole  town  was  with  us.  For 
instance,  when  we  would  report  that  a  man  had  voted  for  the  Ogden  Gas 
ordinance,  in  every  one  of  the  wards  where  there  was  anything  like  an 
intelligent  and  conscientious  vote,  that  man  was  defeated. 

But  when  it  came  to  the  question  of  refusing  our  endorsement  to  a  man 
who  favored  a  thirty  or  a  fifty  year  franchise  for  a  street  railway  company, 
then  we  began  to  find  that  the  constituency  of  the  league  divided.  Never- 
theless that  matter  of  the  granting  of  the  franchise  for  not  more  than 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


75 


twenty  years  was  such  an  absolute,  such  a  fundamental  principle  for  the 
progress  of  Chicago  that  we  made  it  a  test  for  a  man's  capacity  to  serve 

the  city  in  the  city  legislature.  There  was  a  criticism 
Short  Term  that  the  league  had  departed  from  its  primal  principle 
Franchises  to  require  only  honesty  and  capacity,  but  we  fought 

it  out  to  the  finish  and  the  rights  of  the  city  of  Chicago 
were  finally  secured  in  a  franchise  which  will  be  the  precedent  and  has 
already  become  the  precedent  and  will  be  for  all  time  to  come,  that  no 
franchise  shall  be  given  for  more  than  twenty  years.  I  believe  that  the 
whole  town  now  believes  that  the  Municipal  Voters  League  was  right 
and  that  its  critics  were  wrong.  Of  course  if  we  had  been  a  purely  trade 
organization  we  might  have  had  the  experience  of  this  Philadelphia  organ- 
ization, but  there  was  a  compact  body  of  only^a  dozen  or  fifteen  men  backed 
by  those  who  simply  chose  either  to  contribute  to  the  funds  of  the  league 
or  to  follow  the  recommendations  of  the  league  in  the  campaign  for  the 
aldermanic  election,  and  who  were  to  a  far  greater  degree  more  inde- 
pendent than  a  mere  trades  organization  could  be,  and  yet  without  the 
backing  of  the  business  sentiment  of  the  city  of  course  we  should  have 
been  very  largely  powerless. 

We  have  had  somewhat  similar  questions  as  to  whether  we  should  de- 
mand that  every  candidate  for  the  city  council  promise  to  support  the 

policy  of  a  non-partisan  constituency  for  the  council 
Non-Partisan  committees,  and  we  introduced  that  into  our  platform 
Council  and  unflinchingly  insisted  that  thj  council  shall  never 

Organization  i^iore  be  organized  on  a  wholly  partisan  basis.  The 

business  efficiency  of  the  city  has  enormously  increased 
since  we  have  forced  that  issue  and  required  of  the  majority  of  the  alder- 
men a  promise  to  constitute  the  committees  by  conference  between  mem- 
bers of  both  parties  of  men  who  are  most  efficient  in  the  business  served  by 
that  committee. 

Again,  the  partisan  criticism  of  the  league  was  sharp,  again  we  were 
accused  of  departing  from  our  primal  principle  of  capacity  and  honesty. 
But  again  the  results  have  shown  the  wisdom  of  that  fundamental  principle, 
so  I  do  not  think  that  there  needs  to  be  too  great  caution  in  the  unflinch- 
ing  support  of  a  fundamentally  good  thing,  and  even  when  you  do  lose  in 
some  quarters  you  will  gain  in  others  and  at  any  rate  you  might  better 
run  the  risk.  The  result  of  that  kind  of  play  has  been  most  encouraging. 
The  story  has  so  often  been  told  that  I  don't  think  any  allusion  to  the 
Municipal  Voters  League  should  be  made  without  giving  the  fact  over 
again,  that  whereas  twelve  or  thirteen  years  ago  of  sixty-eight  men  in  the 
city  council  not  ten  were  suspected  of  being  honest,  last  April  we  had 
seventy  men  in  the  city  council  not  ten  of  whom  were  suspected  of  being 
dishonest.  [Applause.] 

Mr.  a.  Julius  Freiberg:  Dr.  Taylor  has  just  made  a  suggestion 
which  in  connection  with  Mr.  Paine's  remarks  is  most  interesting.  He 


76 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


says — I  don't  know  whether  he  questions  adversely  or  not,  but  at  least 
he  raises  the  point  as  to  whether  or  not  it  is  advisable  for  business  organi- 
zations, chambers  of  commerce  or  civic  organizations,  to  interfere  or 
petition  their  municipal  councils  only  in  cases  of  supreme  importance, 
cardinal  questions  concerning  the  city's  welfare,  or  whether  they  may  have 
a  larger  field  and  should  consider  themselves  as  right  in  petitioning  the 
council  on  pretty  much  any  question  at  all  that  is  for  the  city's  welfare. 
Now,  of  course,  if  you  are  working  towards  the  situation  in  which  you 
expect  to  bring  about  the  enactment  of  the  referendum  or  the  initiative 
in  city  matters,  then  it  seems  to  me  it  is  very  well  not  to  have  very  much 
concern  about  the  individuality  of  the  council,  because  your  end  and  pur- 
pose is  finally  to  bring  about  its  overthrow  as  legislative  machinery.  But 
if  you  are  not  disposed  to  reach  out  after  the  referendum  or  the  recall  of 
the  initiative  with  reference  to  city  matters,  then  it  does  seem  to  me  it  is 
quite  questionable  in  the  light  of  certain  experiences  we  have  had  in  Cin- 
cinnati for  any  civic  organization  to  do  more  than  insist  that  the  members 
of  the  council  shall  be  honest  in  the  first  place  and  in  the  second  that  they 
shall  conform  to  the  wishes  of  the  people  from  time  to  time  on  matters 
of  cardinal  importance. 

If  you  continually  bestir  yourselves  and  bother — to  use  a  common 
term — the  council  of  the  city,  some  of  the  members  of  which  perhaps  have 
a  desire  to  be  honest  and  do  the  right  thing,  you  make  a 
"Bothering         laughing  stock  of  yourselves.    Now  I  believe  that  I  can 
Councils"  see  something  of  that  sort  of  thing  happening  today  in 

Cincinnati.  We  have  a  club  called  the  Business  Men's 
Club  which  is  a  club  that  exists  apart  from  the  chamber  of  commerce, 
which  is  a  body  composed  of  the  better  class  of  business  men  in  the  city. 
The  Business  Men's  Club  was  to  some  extent  organized  for  the  purpose  of 
interesting  itself  in  local  civic  affairs.  It  is  a  very  large  club  indeed,  and 
has  innumerable  committees  which  are  supposed  to  concern  themselves 
with  the  various  departments  of  city  life.  Now  this  Business  Men's 
Club  appeals  to  the  council  and  gets  itself  in  the  newspapers  on  about  every 
possible  conceivable  subject.  Nine-tenths  of  their  appeals — perhaps  a 
larger  percentage  than  that — are  well  taken  and  certainly  all  of  their  ap- 
peals are  sincere.  At  the  same  time  they  have  been  bedeviling  the  coun- 
cil, which  is  all  powerful  there,  to  such  a  large  extent  that  it  looks  as  though 
the  council  is  beginning  to  make  a  little  bit  fun  of  the  organization. 

For  one  of  the  sub- bosses  there  when  appealed  to  by  the  business  organ- 
ization in  reference  to  the  improvement  of  a  certain  viaduct  is  said  to 
have  made  the  remark  "let  them  walk,"  and  "let  them  walk"  is  quite  a 
by-word  now  in  Cincinnati.  It  looks  as  though  the  too  frequent  appeals 
on  the  part  of  this  organization  are  beginning  to  diminish  its  influence  with 
councils.  Of  course  if  that  body  were  a  truly  patriotic  institution  serving 
in  good  faith  the  people's  interests  no  amount  of  appeals  by  the  Business 
Men's  Club  in  good  faith  would  be  too  much,  but  that  unfortunately 
is  not  the  case.    There  is  another  danger.    A  great  many  of  the  members 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


77 


of  this  club  are  rather  inexpert  on  some  of  the  things  that  they  profess  to 
instruct  the  council  about.  They  don't  take  sufficient  time,  they  don't 
enter  into  the  fundamental  principles  of  some  of  the  things  that  they  pro- 
pose nothing  like  as  earnestly  or  as  thoroughly  for  instance  as  the  National 
Municipal  League  might,  and  therefore  some  of  their  conclusions,  which 
get  to  be  very  vehement,  are  sometimes  extremely  superficial  and  are  often 
easily  punctured  by  the  bosses  of  the  council. 

While  I  am  on  my  feet  I  want  to  ask  Mr.  Paine  a  question  in  connection 
with  the  referendum.  One  of  the  greatest  criticisms  on  our  present  sys- 
tem of  legislative  control — control  on  the  part  of  the  legislature  of  all 
the  cities — is  the  fact  that  owing  to  the  fact  that  most  of  the  towns  of  the 

state  or  the  country  are  not  acquainted  with  city 
State  and  City  affairs  we  are  tied  up  in  our  cities  from  having  sufficient 
Referenda  initiative  in  our  own  affairs,  and  of  course  in  most  states 

it  is  impossible  to  change  that  all  of  a  sudden,  on  ac- 
count of  constitutional  limitations.  But,  if  there  is  to  be  any  change  made 
in  the  fundamental  laws  so  far  as  to  allow  the  people  themselves  to  govern, 
why  don't  writers  on  this  subject  attempt  to  make  some  provison  where- 
by the  initiative  is  limited  in  city  matters  to  the  voters  of  the  city  and  in 
state  matters  to  citizens  of  the  state  if  it  is  possible  to  make  a  dividing 
line  between  the  two  ? 

Mr.  Paine:  Mr.  Chairman:  I  am  not  quite  sure  I  comprehend  the  ques- 
tion. The  initiative  in  the  state  matter  is  limited  to  voters  of  the  state 
and  in  the  city  to  the  voters  of  the  city. 

Mr.  Freiberg:  There  was  a  bill  introduced  at  the  last  legislature  con- 
taining a  provision  for  a  referendum  in  all  matters  that  the  legislature 
today  has  the  right  to  pass  a  law  for.  Now  inasmuch  as  most  students  of 
representative  government  recognize  that  there  might  very  well  be  a 
dividing  line  and  more  home  rule  accredited  to  the  city  than  there  is  at 
present,  even  without  reference  to  the  referendum,  why  therefore  when  a 
new  sj'^stem  is  devised,  is  there  not  some  constitutional  provision  arranged 
by  which  the  people  of  the  whole  state  are  limited  in  their  referendum 
vote  and  are  prevented  from  having  to  do  with  concerns  in  the  city? 

Mr.  Paine  :  It  is  not  a  question  of  the  transition  period.  The  legislature 
of  Ohio  is  possibly  one  of  the  worst  examples  of  interference  on  the  part 
of  the  state  with  the  municipal  affairs  of  the  city.  The  correct  theory  of 
course  should  be  that  the  state  should  not  interfere  with  the  affairs  of  the 
city,  but  that  these  affairs  should  be  controlled  by  the  city.  That  does 
not  require  a  fundamental  change.  The  legislature  itself  can  grant  it  if 
it  will.  A  good  many  of  the  charters  of  Texas  gave  the  citizens  all  the 
powers  for  the  general  local  good  which  are  not  expressly  reserved  by  some 
legislative  act  or  by  the  constitution,  gave  them  therefore  general  power, 
and  they  keep  their  hands  off. 


78 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


If  the  state  passes  a  state  law  the  referendum  of  course  comes  from  the 
voters  of  the  state.  It  need  not  be  hmited  to  the  voters  of  any  section, 
either  of  cities  or  of  country  districts.  If  it  is  a  local  law  passed  by  the 
state  it  is  possible  that  the  citizens  of  the  rest  of  the  state  would  not  be 
much  interested  in  that  law  and  the  referendum  if  it  came,  would  come 
from  the  voters  of  the  section,  affected  by  that  law,  but  it  is  very  diffi- 
cult to  put  in  the  constitution  provisions  which  are  adopted  only  for  a 
transition  period.  I  think  your  objection  is  not  sound  in  the  general 
sense  where  the  initiative  and  referendum  apply.  Where  the  legis- 
lature has  no  power  over  city  affairs,  where  the  cities  can  themselves 
now  by  constitutional  amendment  set  up  their  own  charter,  there  you 
have  the  people  supreme  in  their  local  affairs,  and  a  law  passed  by 
the  legislature  of  Oregon  is  subject  to  the  referendum  on  the  petition 
of  voters  of  the  whole  state.  Those  voters  may  be  either  largely  localized 
in  certain  sections  or  spread  equally  over  the  whole  state.  But  it  is  a  much 
better  provision  for  the  working  of  the  referendum  that  they  should  be 
allowed  to  come  from  any  section  of  the  state  without  having  them  equally 
spread  throughout  all  the  counties  or  as  they  sometimes  do,  through  a 
certain  proportion  of  the  United  States  representative  districts.  I  think 
that  is  the  Missouri  system  which  was  thrown  down  some  time  ago.  It 
is  also  partly  established  in  the  constitution  which  was  voted  on  Novem- 
ber 3.    I  wonder  if  I  have  answered  your  question. 

Mr.  Freiberg:  I  think  you  have. 

The  Chairman:  The  chair  would  state  that  an  examination  made  on 
behalf  of  the  League  into  the  various  constitutions  of  the  different  states 
to  discover  what  reason  there  was  which  by  provision  of  the  constitution 
prevented  legislatures  from  granting  authority  to  cities,  found  an  astonish- 
ing lack  of  constitutional  provision.  Iowa  gave  Des  Moines  its  charter 
without  any  amendments  of  the  state  constitution.  Wisconsin  is  under 
practically  one  constitutional  restriction,  that  it  cannot  make  special 
legislation  applying  to  one  city  without  having  it  apply  to  all,  and  it  can- 
not very  well  give  a  home  rule  charter  to  the  whole  lot.  There  is  a  con- 
stitutional question.  But  I  see  here  a  gentleman  we  are  going  to  have 
the  pleasure  of  hearing  from  tonight,  but  he  is  a  gentleman  we  don't 
want  to  wait  to  hear  from  when  we  can  hear  from  him  at  all.  I  think 
Judge  B.  B.  Lindsey  of  Denver  can  give  us  points  on  this  subject. 
[Applause.] 

Judge  Lindsey:  I  am  sure  I  appreciate  the  very  great  honor  and  priv- 
ilege of  being  here  this  afternoon  and  participating  for  a  few  moments  in 
this  discussion.  It  has  a  peculiarly  personal  interest  in  my  own  case,  and 
I  trust  I  will  not  be  offensive  in  discussing  it  for  that  reason.  Indirectly 
the  question  of  submitting  public  franchises  to  the  people  is  responsible 
for  the  recent  fight  we  had  in  Denver  independently  against  the  two  politi- 
cal machines,  but  I  am  not  going  to  discuss  that  now.    I  do  however 


4 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


79 


want  to  say  a  word  or  two  with  reference  to  this  very  important  question 
discussed  in  the  able  paper  of  Mr.  Paine.    It  has  been  of  peculiar  signifi- 
cance and  interest  to  our  own  people  in  Denver,  and 
Denver's  very  outset  I  want  to  say  a  word  not  so  much  by 

_j  ,        J  way  of  apology  or  defense  of  our  own  people,  our  city 

and  our  state,  as  by  way  of  explanation.  The  state- 
and  Initiative  ment  that  I  am  going  to  make  to  you  of  actual  facts 
from  actual  experience  in  submitting  ordinances  worth 
anyTvhere  according  to  estimate  from  forty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  mill- 
ion dollars,  within  the  last  two  years,  or  within  the  last  three  years  any- 
way, under  an  initiative  ordinance,  are  facts  to  my  mind  that  would  hap- 
pen to  any  city  in  this  country  under  similar  conditions.  Therefore  I  am 
speaking  now,  not  with  reference  so  much  to  the  people  of  Denver  and 
the  people  of  Colorado  only  as  I  am  with  reference  to  the  people  of 
Pittsburgh,  to  the  people  of  Chicago,  Detroit,  New  Orleans,  where  under 
the  same  conditions  I  believe  similar  results  would  be  produced.  It  is 
rather  an  evil  condition  from  which  all  the  people  suffer  in  the  cities  of 
this  country.  And  these  conditions  we  must  know  about,  and  in  my 
judgment  guard  against,  if  we  are  going  to  have  the  results  that  those 
who  favor  the  initiative  and  referendum  in  franchise  questions  anticipate 
and  hope  for. 

Our  constitution  was  amended  in  1902  to  permit  cities  to  have  what 
was  called  home  rule.  In  the  past  our  cities  had  been  governed  in  a 
measure  by  the  government  of  the  state,  under  a  system  controlling  the 
fire  and  police  force,  and  the  board  of  public  works,  which  dealt  with  cer- 
tain important  business  affairs  of  the  city.  In  the  constitutional  amend- 
ment, the  right  of  the  initiative  and  referendum  was  given  the  city  upon 
public  franchises.  That  constitutional  provision  was  fought  bitterly 
by  the  public  service  corporations,  consisting  of  telephone,  gas  and  elec- 
tric companies,  the  Denver  Union  Water  Company  and  the  City  Railway 
Company,  known  as  the  Tramway  System,  which  combined  together  for 
the  purpose  first  of  fighting  this  constitutional  provision  in  the  legislature 
and  then  at  the  polls. 

Under  this  provision  we  have  the  right  to  make  our  own  charter.  The 
first  charter  under  that  provision  of  the  constitution  was  considered  accord- 
ing to  the  state  and  municipal  experts  one  of  the  best  charters  ever  pro- 
posed or  submitted  to  a  people.  That  charter  was  defeated  by  the  most 
treasonable  election  frauds  which  were  financed  by  these  public  service 
corporations,  and  through  the  shameful  use  not  of  one  but  of  both 
political  organizations.  The  next  charter,  not  nearly  so  good  as  the  first 
was  finally  passed  without  those  provisions  for  the  pro- 
A  Taxpayers'  tection  of  the  people  in  contests  with  public  service  cor- 
Referendum       porations  that  were  contained  in    the  first  charter. 

Under  this  charter,  before  a  public  service  corporation 
could  obtain  a  franchise  it  must  submit  its  proposition  to  the  people,  or 
rather  I  should  say  to  be  exact,  to  that  part  of  the  people  who  constituted 


8o 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


the  tax  paying  electors,  which,  from  our  experience,  I  think  was  a  mistake. 
If  we  had  it  to  do  over  again  I  think  that  the  advocates  of  that  measure 
would  say  let  it  be  submitted  to  the  vote  of  the  people  rather  than  the  vote 
of  the  tax  paying  electors.  At  the  time  I  favored  the  position  that  it  should 
be  submitted  to  the  tax  paying  electors.  But  since  that  I  have  altered 
my  views  materially  on  that  matter. 

Now  it  became  my  duty  as  judge  of  the  court  over  which  I  presided 
(which  was  only  incidentally  the  juvenile  court,  in  which  we  have  done 
some  work  that  has  attracted  the  attention  and  approval,  all  too  generous, 
of  our  friends)  to  decide  all  election  cases.  By  every  charter  that  was  pro- 
posed under  the  constitution  it  was  declared  to  be  the  only  forum  in  which 
election  matters  of  every  kind  and  description  shall  be  determined.  That 
necessarily  gets  the  judge  of  that  court  more  or  less  involved  in  politics.  It 
makes  the  court  one  of  the  prizes  of  politicians,  and  it  is  very  difl&cult  to 
keep  out  of  politics  when  you  are  in  that  work.  I  mean  in  politics  of 
course  in  the  higher  and  better  sense. 

The  initiative  consisted  in  certain  propositions  made  by  the  city  rail- 
road company  and  the  Denver  Gas  and  Electric  Company  to  the  people. 
' '  We  will  furnish  you  gas  and  light  for  so  much.  We  will  furnish  you  street 
lamps  for  so  much."  We  will  pay  you  so  much  for  the  use  of  your 
streets."  That  was  a  business  proposition.  There  was  not  any  com- 
mittee from  the  chamber  of  commerce  or  any  board  of  business  men,  as 
in  my  judgment  there  ought  to  have  been,  as  we  have  come  to  believe 
since,  to  pass  upon  the  business  character  of  these  propositions.  There 
was  in  my  judgment  absolutely  nothing  of  a  just  business  character 
about  the  scheme.  The  proposition  was  made  through  the  city  council 
and  then  submitted  to  the  people.  It  is  true  we  had  meetings  at  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  and  through  one  or  two  little  civic  organizations  to  dis- 
cuss these  propositions,  but  there  was  nothing  to  interfere  with  those 
corporations  submitting  any  kind  of  a  proposal  however  absurd  it  might 
be  and  demanding  the  vote  on  that  proposition — of  the  tax  paying 
electors.  Of  course  we  had  the  experience  which  every  city  in  this  coun- 
try has  had,  which  I  say  justifies  me  in  speaking  of  this  condition  that 
I  shall  come  to  presently,  that  we  are  ashamed  of  as  not  particularly 
indigenous  to  our  own  people,  but  rather  to  all  people  who  face  the  same 
condition,  and  it  is  interesting  it  seems  to  me  to  people  who  want  good  city 
government.  That  is,  we  had  your  experiences  in  the  past.  There  were 
charges  brewing  in  the  city  council  every  time  a  franchise  question  came 
up;  there  were  scare  heads  in  papers  that  this  alderman  and  that  were 
being  bought,  and  it  simply  showed  our  experiences  must  be  the  same 
because  human  nature  is  the  same.  We  hoped  to  get  rid  of  that  con- 
dition, of  the  scandals  that  had  attended  these  proceedings  at  the  city  hall 
before  the  city  council,  and  we  thought  that  this  was  the  panacea  for  it  all. 

It  turned  out  that  instead  of  destroying  the  corruption  that  we  had 
suffered  from  and  that  our  council  had  been  charged  with,  corruption 
retail,  as  it  was  in  the  old  days,  became  corruption  wholesale.  Instead 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


8i 


of  buying  up  the  council  they  bought  up  both  political  machines.  In- 
stead of  buying  up  fifteen  alderman,  as  it  was  said 
Corruption  they  had  in  the  past,  they  bought  up  two  thousand 
Wholesale  political  workers.    All  of  these  things  have  been  proved 

since  these  franchises  were  submitted  to  the  vote  of  the 
tax  paying  electors.  There  followed  this  proposal  and  the  election  thereof 
a  great  amount  of  litigation.  However,  notwithstanding  all  of  the  efforts 
of  the  public  service  corporation  to  pull  through  those  franchises  they 
only  got  the  street  car  franchise  through  by  ninety-nine  majority  and  I 
believe  the  gas  and  electric  company  franchise  by  a  little  less  than  five 
hundred  out  of  a  total  vote  of  tax  paying  electors  of  sixteen  thousand. 
The  charge  in  court  was  that  the  gas  and  electric  company  and  the  tram- 
way company  had  put  up  a  tremendous  sum  of  money  through  a  conspir- 
acy entered  into  on  the  part  of  these  public  service  corporations  and  the 
chairmen  and  representatives  of  the  two  political  organizations  bearing 
the  names  of  the  two  old  political  parties,  but  representing  either  about 
as  much  as  they  represented  a  Hottentot. 

The  case  came  on  for  trial.  I  saw  a  young  man  who  worked  for  the  gas 
company  go  on  the  witness  stand  and  when  asked:  "  Did  you  vote  at  the 
franchise  election,"  reply  "I  refuse  to  testify  for  I  might  incriminate  my- 
self." I  think  one  of  the  saddest  things  I  ever  saw  in  court  was  young 
man  after  young  man  getting  eighty  or  a  hundred  dollars  a  month  with  a 
wife  and  baby  to  support  go  on  the  stand  in  these  cases  and  thus  incrimi- 
nate himself  before  the  public.  When  it  came  to  the  president  of  one  of 
the  companies,  the  only  one  the  process  servers  got,  because  the  balance 
of  them  had  skipped  town,  he  refused  to  be  sworn.  It  became  my  duty 
under  the  law  where  a  witness  rebels  and  denies  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
court,  until  the  court  is  reversed  by  a  higher  power,  to  commit  the  witness 
to  jail.  In  a  similar  case  in  another  court  the  president  of  the  utility 
corporation  and  the  chairman  of  one  of  the  political  parties  and  one  or 
two  other  election  officials  through  their  power  in  politics  smoked  cigars 
in  the  Brown  Palace  Hotel  and  walked  around  eating  good  dinners  until 
they  could  get  a  writ  from  the  supreme  court  to  release  them.  But  we  did 
not  think  they  ought  to  have  special  privileges,  and  so  they  were  chucked 
into  jail  and  stayed  there  three  or  four  days  until  the  high  court  could  on  a 
very  slim  technicality  get  at  the  record  to  let  them  out.  Of  course  when 
you  consider  that  these  men  controlled  the  political  organizations  it  makes 
it  very  difficult  to  expect  any  quarter  from  the  gang  that  runs  things. 

The  pitiful  part  of  all  this  proceeding  is  the  debauchery  of  human  char- 
acter. A  man  or  woman  will  go  on  the  witness  stand  and  confess  they 
got  money  to  work  for  the  franchise.  Here  was  the 
Debauchery  process:  A  ward  worker  is  told  he  could  have  fifty 
of  Human  dollars  to  work  for  the  franchise.    The  Denver  Gas  and 

Character  Electric  Company  called  in  not  only  the  man  who  was 

in  the  council,  but  the  man  who  was  ruiming  for  it, 
and  paid  them  from  a  hundred  to  one  thousand  dollars  to  work  for  these 


82 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


franchises  regardless  of  the  question  as  to  whether  it  was  a  square  deal 
for  the  people  or  not,  regardless  of  the  question  whether  or  not  their 
children  were  being  robbed  in  this  generation  or  the  next.  The  result 
was  that  many  of  the  candidates,  officers  and  workers  in  both  political 
organizations  were  the  subjects  of  insidious  bribery. 

I  know  that  one  good  woman  went  into  the  house  of  a  neighbor  of  mine 
and  said  "Mrs.  Jones,  won't  you  vote  for  this  franchise  ?  Mr.  So-and-So," 
mentioning  the  president  of  the  company,  "says  if  we  get  a  hundred  and 
fifty  majority  in  this  precinct  I  will  get  a  job  in  the  clerk's  office."  In 
other  words  she  was  willing  to  sell  her  rights  of  citizenship  for  a  mess  of 
pottage.  And  so  it  went  up  and  down  the  line,  and  in  all  of  my  experi- 
ence of  ten  years  in  the  midst  of  corrupt  politics  I  never  witnessed  any- 
thing so  detestable,  so  awful,  so  soul  debasing  as  the  men  and  women 
who  were  thus  debauched  by  the  public  service  corporations  in  this  elec- 
tion, and  I  found  many  of  them  did  not  stop  to  think  about  it.  Control- 
ling the  public  officials,  they  issued  two  days  before  election  fake  tax 
receipts;  they  went  to  a  real  estate  agent  and  bought  a  lot  of  lots  in  a  poor 
part  of  the  country,  thousands  of  them,  and  paid  the  taxes  on  these  lots, 
two  cents,  four  cents — ten  cents  was  the  highest,  and  they  called  in  their 
employees  the  day  before  election,  these  poor  clerks,  and  said  "Here  is  a 
tax  receipt.  You  are  a  tax  payer.  You  vote  on  this  franchise  and  you 
vote  our  way. "  Under  a  decision  of  our  supreme  court  that  is  absolutely 
fraudulent.  But  consider  the  position  the  people  are  in  in  a  great  strug- 
gle like  that  when  both  parties  are  bought  up  so  that  we  cannot  have  a 
square  deal. 

Now  the  remedy.  We  are  going  to  find  that  a  great  many  other  laws 
are  going  to  be  necessary.  I  know  of  certain  men  whom  the  gas  com- 
pany paid  one  hundred  to  fifteen  hundred  dollars  who 
The  Remedy  either  members  of  the  council  or  expected  to  be  or  had 

influence  in  their  ward  and  there  wasn't  a  law  on  the 
statute  books,  one  court  told  us,  that  made  this  payment  a  crime.  If 
these  men  had  been  members  of  the  council  and  this  ordinance  had  been 
before  fifteen  people  [instead  of  fifteen  thousand  they  would  have  been 
guilty  of  bribery  on  both  sides  and  we  could  send  them  to  the  peniten- 
tiary. But  there  was  not  any  penalty  whatever,  and  the  result  was  this 
corporation  could  go  unscathed.  I  do  hope  these  communities  having 
ordinances  of  the  initiative  and  referendum  on  public  franchises,  will  care- 
fully consider  these  questions  before  they  face  the  very  serious  question 
of  disposing  of  millions  of  dollars  worth  of  property,  and  I  would  certainly 
suggest  stringent  laws  making  it  bribery  and  punishable  by  severe  pen- 
alties for  any  public  corporation  to  pour  these  immense  sums  into  the 
coffers  of  political  organizations  to  pay  campaign  expenses  or  to  give 
money  in  any  way,  shape  or  manner  to  any  worker.  We  cannot  get  a 
square  deal  in  any  other  way. 

Those  are  simply  a  few  of  the  remedies  suggested.  But  there  are  one 
or  two  others.    I  don't  have  them  all  in  mind  just  now.    Sometime  I 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


83 


hope  to  suggest  them  when  they  occur  to  me  during  these  tremendously 
important  trials  concerning  these  questions.  One  is  to  get  your  municipal 
officials  out  of  the  corrupt  politics  we  have  now.  That  is  why  I  favor  this 
commission  plan  that  has  been  discussed  here.  And  just  so  far  as  we  can 
eliminate  partisanship  it  will  help. 

In  some  of  these  cases  the  district  attorney  was  in  duty  bound  to  bring 
quo  warranto  proceedings  to  test  the  justice  and  the  legality  of  these  elec- 
tions and  the  method  by  which  those  franchises  were  acquired.  The 
district  attorney  owed  his  position  to  the  power  of  the  boss  who  was  presi- 
dent of  the  Denver  Tramway  Company.  That  man  put  up  the  money 
to  elect  the  district  attorney,  and  of  course  when  it  came  to  the  struggle 
between  the  people  on  the  one  hand  and  special  privileges  on  the  other 
he  knew  where  his  bread  was  buttered  and  of  course  he  stood  with  the 
special  privilege  grafters  and  betrayed  the  people.  And  that  was  the 
case  with  nearly  every  public  official  who  was  involved  in  that  contest. 
Why?  Because  of  the  corruption  of  politics  by  public  service  corpor- 
ations, by  furnishing  all  the  campaign  funds,  as  they  had  always  done  for 
certain  political  organizations  in  the  city,  the  officials  served  special 
privilege  grafters  instead  of  the  people.  They  ought  to  have  a  square 
deal  and  we  must  recognize  the  splendid  good  that  comes  to  any  com- 
munity from  work  done  by  the  business  men  back  of  these  great  enter- 
prises, but  here  were  unconscionable  business  men  who  had  so  little  respect 
for  themselves  or  their  citizenship  that  they  would  permit  the  expenditure 
of  thousands  of  dollars  in  corrupting  the  instruments  of  democracy  so 
that  the  whole  thing  became  a  farce.  The  supreme  court  held  finally  I 
had  not  any  jurisdiction  and  when  we  were  just  getting  into  the  matter 
of  the  frauds  the  whole  investigation  was  stopped.  The  state's  attorney 
made  a  farce  of  the  whole  thing  and  the  result  is  that  while  all  Denver 
knows  that  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  million  dollars  worth  of 
property  was  obtained  by  corruption  and  iniquity  there  is  practically  no 
way  to  recover  it  back.  That  is  our  experience  on  the  initiative  and 
the  referendum,  one  hundred  million  dollars  stolen  from  the  people. 
[Applause.] 

The  Chairman:  We  have  plenty  of  time  for  the  discussion. 

Mr.  Paine:  Could  not  the  council  have  been  bought  just  as  easily  as 
the  people  who  were  falsely  given  the  tax  paying  qualification?  Is  it  not 
because  the  initiative  and  referendum  have  not  been  established  yet 
with  proper  safeguard? 

Judge  Lindsey:  Exactly.  I  am  a  friend  of  the  initiative  and  referen- 
dum and  I  don't  mean  my  remarks  to  be  against  them  but  rather  as  point- 
ing out  certain  safeguards  that  I  sought  to  suggest. 

The  Chairman:  I  think  we  should  all  be  very  glad  to  hear  from  Mr.  A. 
Leo  Weil  of  the  Pittsburgh  bar  on  either  of  these  questions  or  both  if  he 
will  see  fit  to  speak  to  us. 


84 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


Mr.  Weil:  The  trials  that  we  have  made  of  the  initiative  and  referen- 
dum in  our  communities  have  been  rather  of  a  speculative  character  and 

hardly  a  test.  It  seems  to  me  that  much  of  the  criti- 
Speculative  cism  that  has  been  made  by  municipal  organizations 
Tests  of  the  and  the  process  for  curing  the  evils  that  have  been 
Referendum       suggested — and  we  all  concede  that  there  are  many 

evils — perhaps  go  back  a  little  further  than  many  of  us 
have  yet  thought  or  suggested.  It  occurs  to  me  that  they  are  due  in  part 
to  not  differentiating  between  the  characteristics  of  the  municipal  organ- 
ization as  formerly  understood  and  as  now.  The  time  was  when  the  munic- 
ipal organization  was  looked  upon  merely  as  an  agency  of  the  state,  as  a 
mere  police  officer,  if  you  please,  exercising  state  and  sovereign  functions 
and  representative  of  sovereignty  in  the  individual  community,  preserv- 
ing order  and  taking  care  of  those  matters  which  all  of  us  regard  as  being 
state  functions.  In  our  modem  times,  however,  and  under  modem  con- 
ditions gradually  arising  and  growing  up  and  not  becoming  full  fledged  at 
any  one  time,  came  the  modem  idea  of  the  municipality  as  a  great  business 
cooperative  organization  performing  the  business  and  the  duty  and  having 
to  do  with  the  obligations  of  the  individual  citizens  resident  in  a  given 
locality. 

In  consequence  the  city  was  looked  upon  as  something  separate  and 
apart  from  the  individuals  who  composed  it,  looked  upon  as  a  separate 
and  distinct  thing.  It  was  therefore  the  system,  you  might  say,  or  the 
practice  of  those  who  lived  in  the  city  of  considering  the  city  a  thing  that 
might  be  plucked  without  any  duty  or  obligation  to  his  fellow  citizens 
who  lived  in  the  adjoining  house  and  to  whom  he  would  hesitate  to  apply 
any  such  practice.  And  those  two  ideas  growing  up  in  this  way,  this  new 
idea  of  the  city  as  a  cooperative  association  was  lost  sight  of  in  the  general 
growth,  and  our  interest  in  our  own  personal  affairs  and  in  our  want  of 
study  of  these  general  conditions. 

Before,  it  seems  to  me,  we  can  get  the  full  benefit  of  the  referendum, 
and  the  initiative  and  the  recall;  before  we  can  get  the  benefit  of  these 
charter  amendments,  we  need  something  to  be  introduced  into  our  muni- 
cipal communities,  and  that  is  a  study  of  the  situation  and  valuation  of 
the  civic  consciousness  of  the  individual,  his  duty,  his  obligation  to  his 
fellow  citizens  separate  and  apart  from  the  estimation  of  the  city  as  the 
representative  of  the  people.  If  we  can  get  this  civic  consciousness  intro- 
duced, if  we  can  get  the  individual  to  understand  his 
_      ,    .  relation  to  his  city  and  all  the  people  in  the  city  to  regard 

Conclusiveness      ■     ^  ^-    ^  \u  1  •  i  _r 

their  relation  to  the  city  as  being  a  personal  partner- 
ship, if  you  please,  of  all  the  residents  in  the  city  in 
which  each  one  is  personally  interested,  in  which  there  is  the  joint  property 
and  the  joint  operation,  then  we  can  get  this  consciousness  into  the  minds 
of  every  citizen,  then  we  shall  have  the  initiative  and  the  referendum  and 
the  recall  when  in  operation  operate  most  beneficently.  On  the  other 
hand,  those  who  have  given  some  study  to  the  situation  tell  us,  and  it 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


85 


would  seem  with  much  force  and  effect,  that  the  very  best  way  of  introduc- 
ing this  civic  consciousness,  the  best  way  of  teaching  us  to  appreciate  this 
obhgation  which  each  individual  owes  to  every  other  individual  in  the 
community  in  the  common  property  and  the  common  operation  of  the 
city  is  through  the  initiative  and  the  referendum  and  the  recall,  and  these 
other  methods  by  which  the  attention  is  directed  to  these  very  subjects. 
It  is  a  big  question  to  submit.  It  is  a  question  upon  which  I  have  no  right 
to  express  an  opinion  to  so  intelligent  a  gathering.  [Applause.] 

The  Chairman:  Mr.  Weil's  address  will  close  the  discussion,  and  now 
we  shall  adjourn. 

On  Tuesday  evening,  President  J.  Horace  McFarland  delivered  his 
annual  address  before  the  American  Civic  Association.  There  was  there- 
fore no  meeting  of  the  National  Municipal  League  on  that  evening. 

WEDNESDAY  MORNING  SESSION. 

Wednesday,  November  18,  1907,  10  a.m. 
The  fifth  session  of  the  Conference  was  called  to  order  by 
President  Charles  J.  Bonaparte  of  Baltimore. 

The  Chairman:  The  meeting  will  please  come  to  order.  Mr.  Secretary, 
is  there  any  formal  business. 

Mr.  Woodruff  :  All  the  delegates  from  out  of  town  are  invited  to  the 
dinner  tomorrow  evening,  and  they  are  invited  as  the  guests  of  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce.    That  is  the  only  announcement  I  have  to  make. 

The  President:  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  I  understand  from  the  pro- 
gram that  the  subject  of  discussion  this  morning  is  "Militant  Political 
Work  for  Better  Governed  Cities."  I  presum.-  that  that  means  militant 
political  work  to  make  the  cities  better  governed.  On  that  subject  we 
are  to  first  listen  to  a  paper  by  Mr.  Robert  S.  Binkerd  of  the  Buffalo  Mu- 
nicipal League  and  hereafter  of  the  New  York  Citizens'  Union.  Mr.  Bink- 
erd. 

Mr.  Binkerd:  Air.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  Grave  apologies 
are  due  you  all  for  the  condition  in  which  this  address  is  presented,  and 
particular  apologies  are  due  the  gentlemen  who  have  agreed  to  discuss 
this  subject  this  morning.  I  was  to  have  had  this  ready  by  October  first. 
This  I  promised  when  I  was  gyrating  between  Buffalo  an'd  New  York 
City,  and  ought  to  have  known  better.  But  in  the  past  two  months 
municipal  research  and  charter  revision  work  which  I  had  been  doing  in 
Buffalo  came  to  a  head,  capped  with  the  necessity  of  conducting  an  investi- 
gation before  the  mayor  of  Buffalo,  in  addition  to  our  regular  campaign 


86 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


work.  I  am  sufficiently  thankful  just  to  be  alive  and  here.  An  outline 
of  what  I  want  to  say  has  been  in  the  hands  of  my  co-conspirators  only  a 
day  or  so,  and  to  heighten  the  iniquity,  I  have  added  to  it  without  their 
knowledge,  during  the  past  day  or  two. 

I  implore  their  tender  mercies  and  yours.  For  I  am  in  the  predicament 
of  the  butcher  boy  of  Oxford,  England,  who,  at  one  of  the  mediaeval 
pageants,  was  dressed  up  as  a  Roman  senator.  A  waggish  under- 
graduate, pulling  at  his  toga,  enquired,  "I  say,  old  fellow,  are  you  Ap-pi-us 
Claudius?  "To  which  the  poor  butcher  boy  responded,  "No,  I'm  un-appy 
as  L!  " 

MILITANT  POLITICAL  WORK  FOR  BETTER  CITY  GOVERNMENT. 

At  the  Atlantic  City  Conference  of  the  National  Municipal  League 
one  of  most  important  questions  which  confronts  good  government 
workers  was  raised,  two  opposing  theories  stated,  and  then,  just  as  one 
settled  down  in  the  expectation  of  a  good  debate — the  discussion  took 
a  new  turn,  and  expectations  were  dashed  to  the  ground. 

This  took  place  as  a  round  table  conference.  Mr.  Pendleton  of  Cin- 
cinnati had  just  stated  that  in  his  judgment,  plans  of  campaign  which 
he  designated  as  "municipal  voters  league  methods"  were  best.  Mr. 
John  J.  Murphy,  of  the  Citizens  Union  of  New  York  City,  on  the  contrary, 
said  that  the  New  York  idea  was  independent  nominations  wherever 
possible,  and  more  or  less  favored  the  separate  municipal  party  idea. 
These  two  viewpoints  represent  attitudes  toward  a  problem  which  every 
militant,  political,  good  government  organization  must  decide. 

By  militant  political  work  I  mean  that  which  has  to  do  with  actively  par- 
ticipating in  making  or  influencing  nominations,  and  in  aiding  the  elec- 
tion or  defeat  of  candidates;  the  work  done  by  such 
Militant  and  organizations,  in  short,  as  the  Chicago  Municipal  Voters 
Non-Militant  League,  the  City  Party  of  Philadelphia,  or  the  New 
■^Qj.jj  York   Citizens  Union.     These    I  differentiate  from 

militant  non-political  organization,  such  as  the  Bureau 
of  Municipal  Research,  the  various  city  clubs,  or  the  Taxpayers  Asso- 
ciation of  Cincinnati. 

What  I  have  to  say  does  not  deal  with  work  by  this  second  class  of 
very  necessary  and  complementary  organizations.  Their  function  is  to 
get  facts  and  administrative  data,  and  to  evolve  plans  and  methods 
whereby  municipal  government  may  be  made  more  efficient,  regardless 
of  who  is  responsible  for  the  bad  conditions  which  call  for  remedy. 

This,  however,  is  but  half  the  work  to  be  done,  and  it  is  to  this  other, 
or  as  I  call  it,  to  this  militant  half,  that  I  call  your  attention. 

Militant  political  organizations  in  the  United  States  seem  all,  except  the 
Cambridge  Association,  to  have  chosen  between  the  policy  advocated  by 
Mr.  Pendleton  or  that  advocated  by  Mr.  Murphy.    The  municipal  voters 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


87 


leagues  of  Detroit,  Buffalo,  Milwaukee,  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul  have 
followed  the  example  of  Chicago.  The  city  parties  of  Philadelphia  and 
Cincinnati  have  followed  the  separate  municipal  party  example,  first  set 
by  the  Citizens  Union  of  New  York  City.  Organizations  of  each  kind  have 
been  in  existence  some  ten  years  at  least;  and  it  would  seem  that,  in  the 
light  of  their  camparative  experiences,  we  ought  now  to  be  able  to  judge 
of  their  relative  efficiency. 

I  believe  that  we  are  in  a  position  so  to  judge,  and  the  burden  of  my 
paper  is,  that  "municipal  voters  league  methods  "^^have  been  proved  more 

efficient  under  existing  conditions. 
Municipal  it  is  not  by  chance  that  the  cities  of  Chicago,  Milwau- 

Voters  League  kee,  Minneapolis,  Buffalo  and  others  have  been  steadily, 
Methods  slowly,  improving  j  the  character  of  their  govern- 

ments, especially  on  the  legislative  and  directorial  side. 
In  these  cities  militant  good  government  work  has  been  conducted  by 
municipal  voters  league  methods.  They  perhaps  have  never  been,  nor 
now  are,  free  and  well-governed,  but  there  has  been  an  increasing  num- 
ber of  independent  citizens  raised,  informed  and  guided.  Bad  public 
service  has  become  more  or  less  dangerous  at  any  time.  Good  public 
service  has  become  sure  of  more  recognition,  the  character  of  men  running 
for  public  office  has  been  gradually  bettered;  to  utterly  relapse  into  the 
condition  of  a  dozen  years  ago  has  become  well-nigh  impossible. 

It  is  not  by  chance,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  cities  of  New  York, 
Philadelphia  and  Cincinnati  have  thrown  off  gangs  of  plunderers  in 
recent  years,  only  to  see  them  ride  back  into  power  at 
Separate  the  next  election.    In  these  cities  militant  good  govem- 

Municipal  ment  work  has  been  conducted  by  separate  municipal 

Parties  parties.    These  have  secured  some  brilliant  and  refresh- 

ing municipal  revolutions,  gladdening  to  the  hearts 
of  all  good  men;  but  their  work  has  not  been  lasting,  nor  progressive, 
nor  cumulative. 

As  with  "Postum,"  so  with  this — "there's  a  reason."  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  there  are  several  reasons,  but  the  first  one  is  this:  the  existing 
election  and  ballot  laws  of  practically  every  state  make  impossible  the 
continued  existence  of  a  successful  separate  municipal  party  alongside 
the  local  organizations  of  the  national  parties.  This  is  particularly  true 
where  local  elections  are  held  at  the  same  time  that  county,  judicial,  or 
state  officers  are  elected.  Even  where  this  is  not  true,  the  fact  that  the 
citizen  and  political  workers  have  to  turn  their  backs  on  the  same  organi- 
zation with  which  they  worked  at  the  last  state  or  national  election, 
doubles  or  trebles  the  difficulty  of  the  separate  municipal  party.  Such 
a  party — without  going  into  any  tiresome  detail — cannot  at  present 
succeed  by  anything  short  of  a  political  revolution,  and  we  cannot  expect 
the  voters  of  any  city  "to  revolute"  at  every  city  election. 

But  the  same  man  who  may  refuse  to  leave  utterly  his  national  and 
state  party,  and  who  will  not  go  out  and  organize  his  election  district  for 


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a  separate  city  party,  may  often  be  induced  to  vote  against  one  or  more 
of  his  party's  candidates,  whose  disqualification  for  public  of&ce  can  be 
clearly  shown.  If  the  city's  board  of  directors  is  elected  by  wards,  he 
may  very  often  come  to  be  entirely  non-partisan  in  his  vote  for  alder- 
man, and  while  still  remaining  in  good  party  standing.  Municipal  voters 
league  methods  therefore  represent  the  line  of  least  resistance. 

Again,  to  reasonably  expect  possible  success  single-handed,  a  separate 
municipal  party  must  assume  that  at  least  one-third  of  the  electorate  will 
divorce  itself  of  all  national  party  predudice  or  interest.  This  may  be 
the  condition  in  Toledo,  Ohio,  and  possibly  in  a  few  other  smaller  cities, 
but  is  it  true  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Pittsburg,  Chicago,  Buffalo, 
Cincinnati,  or  St.  Louis?  Assuredly  not.  Therefore,  standing  alone, 
a  separate  municipal  party  has  no  chance  of  electing  its  candidates,  and 
thanks  to  this  relegation  of  good  votes  into  the  limbo  of  the  non-effective, 
the  national  party  organizations  may  often  afford  to  offer  even  a  lower 
type  of  candidate  with  impunity. 

But  suppose  that  the  separate  municipal  party  hopes  to  succeed,  as  it 
generally  does,  by  a  coalition  with  the  weaker  local  national  party  organ- 
ization, as  the  city  parties  of  Cincinnati  and  Philadelphia  have  coalesced 
with  the  Democrats  and  as  the  Citizens  Union  has  coalesced  with  the  Re- 
publicans in  New  York  City.  The  reformers  are  com- 
Political  pelled,  usually,  to  allow  the  national   party  organ- 

Coalitions  ization  the  greater  number  of  candidates;  and  these  are 

determined  upon  by  that  party  organization  for  no  dif- 
ferent considerations  than  to  control  the  nominations  of  the  other  national 
party  organization.  Then  the  reformers  are  in  honor  bound  to  support 
at  least  some  men  who  have  no  better  claim  to  public  office  than  the 
opposing  candidates.  And,  indeed,  it  is  by  no  means  sure  that  one  or  two 
of  the  candidates  not  the  on  coalition  ticket  should,  in  the  interests  of 
good  goemmvent,  be  elected  over  their  opponents  on  the  reform  ticket. 

Under  existing  conditions,  except  at  rare  intervals,  the  militant  good 
government  work  to  be  done  is  not  the  nomination  of  independent  candi- 
dates, but  the  truthful  and  fearless  statement  of  the  character  and  record 
of  proposed  or  final  candidates  for  public  office,  and  independent  support 
of  the  best,  regardless  of  party.  For  the  gathering  and  pubhcation  of 
these  facts,  no  party  organization  is  necessary.  To  the  weight  of  these 
facts  no  party  organization  can  add.  For  the  nomination  of  independent 
candidates,  when  necessary,  a  simple  organization  organized  for  that 
special  purpose,  and  dissolving  when  that  purpose  is  accomplished,  is  by 
all  means  the  most  desirable. 

It  is  not  surprising,  however,  that  it  has  taken  hard  practical  experience 
to  demonstrate  this  point.  We  have  been  so  used  to  seeing  political 
influence  housed  in  representative,  or  pseudo-representative,  organiza- 
tions, that  it  is  not  surprising  that  we  reformers  at  first  thought  that  no 
other  method  was  possible.  In  this  connection,  I  wish  to  call  your 
attention  to  two  concrete  cases  where  mihtant  good  government  organi- 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


89 


zations  made  this  initial  error,  saw  it  in  time,  and  corrected  it,  and  have 
grown  into  permanent  institutions. 

The  first  is  the  Minneapolis  Voters  League.  I  quote  from  a  letter 
by  its  Secretary,  written  December  14,  1906. 

"In  re  ward  and  district  organizations:  That  method  was  tried  here 
in  Minneapolis  eight  years  ago  and  worked  badly.  Based  on  the  ex- 
perience of  that  time,  we  are  sure  that  we  acted 
The  Minne-  wisely  in  eliminating  those  organizations  from  our 
apolis  and  present  scheme.    The  facts  of  our  work  show  unmis- 

Buffalo  takably  that  such  work  can  be  done  best  by  a  single 

Experiences  central  organization.  The  one  main,  essential  thing  is 
to  get  a  strong  executive  committee  of  limited  numbers 
who  will  work  fearlessly,  aggressively  and  without  prejudice. " 

The  second  case  came  under  my  own  notice  in  Bufifalo,  in  1905.  When 
I  arrived  there  in  July,  the  Buffalo  Municipal  League  was  organized  like 
a  party,  with  ward  organizations,  committeemen,  etc.  A  month  or  two 
later  I  learned  that  in  three  wards  members  of  the  Municipal  League, 
with  the  endorsement  of  their  ward  committees,  were  circulating  petitions 
for  independent  nominations,  claiming  to  be  the  Municipal  League  candi- 
dates for  aldermen  in  their  respective  wards.  Prompt  investigation 
developed  the  fact  that  in  at  least  two  out  of  the  three  cases,  the  pseudo- 
municipal  league  candidates  were  inferior  to  one  of  the  regular  party 
candidates.  We  immediately  disowned  these  men,  and  amended  our 
constitution  and  practice  in  conformance  with  the  example  of  the  Munici- 
pal Voters'  League  of  Chicago,  with  justifiable  results. 

In  the  last  analysis,  the  militant  good  government  problem  or  the 
theory  on  which  it  should  be  attacked  is  simple.  Our  institutions  are 
supposed  to  rest  upon  responsible,  representative  government.  We 
cannot  have  responsible  government  without  a  knowledge,  by  the  elec- 
tors, of  the  public  acts  for  which  their  representatives  are  responsible. 
For  obvious  reasons  the  parties  seeking  to  reelect  public  officials,  or  to 
elect  untried  men,  cannot  be  trusted  to  give  this  accurate  information. 
For  many  of  the  same  reasons,  the  press  cannot  be  expected  to  give  the 
unbiased  facts,  because  more  or  less  controlled  by  the  same  considerations 
which  control  the  parties.  A  second  thing  also  interferes,  and  that  is 
the  cost  of  obtaining  such  information,  and  the  useless  and  wasteful 
duplication  which  would  ensue  if  each  newspaper  attempted  the  task  for 
itself  alone. 

Therefore  there  is  need,  in  every  community,  for  a  non-partisan  organi- 
zation which  shall, primary  after  primary  and  election  after  election,  present 
to  the  press  and  voters  the  facts  concerning  office-holders  and  candidates. 
To  fill  this  need  is  the  permanent  function  of  any  militant  political  good 
government  organization.  To  perform  this  pennanent  function  nothing 
more  is  necessary  than  the  direction  of  the  work  by  a  few  citizens  of 
unquestioned  standing  and  integrity,  through  agents  of  skill,  tact,  and 
honesty. 


90 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


The  President:  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  The  program  informs  me 
that  a  number  of  gentlemen  have  kindly  consented  to  set  a  good  example 
to  the  League  generally  by  discussing,  favorably  or  otherwise,  the  paper 
submitted  by  Mr.  Binkerd.  I  will  first  ask  Mr.  E.  W.  Bemis  of  Cleveland 
to  favor  us  with  a  discussion  of  the  paper  from  the  standpoint  of  that 
locality.  [Applause.] 

Dr.  Bemis  :  Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  I  fancy  we  shall  agree, 
most  of  us,  with  the  view  that  these  associations,  muncipal  voters  league 
or  whatever  we  may  call  them  should  not  as  a  general  rule  run  inde- 
pendent tickets.  The  city  is  not  yet  divorced  from  the  state.  It  depends 
upon  state  legislation  so  largely  under  our  American  theory  of  law  for  its 
charter,  for  its  general  work,  that  most  of  our  cities  are  obliged  to  be  in 
touch  with  the  state  parties  in  order  to  be  left  alone.    Therefore  we  have 

to  affiliate  with  the  state  parties.  It  is  possible  that 
State  Party  with  such  home  rule  charters  as  they  possess  now  in 
Affiliation  California  and  Missouri  and  some  other  western  states 

that  is  not  so  necessary,  and  we  may  have  more  growth 
of  independent  municipal  parties. 

I  discovered  that  in  England  and  Scotland  nearly  all  the  cities  outside 
of  London  were  partisan  in  their  formation  even  though  they  attempted  to 
run  their  municipal  business  on  non-party  lines.  The  municipal  associa- 
tions have  for  their  chief  function  the  education  of  the  voters  how  to 
vote  and  how  to  secure  the  nomination  of  men  standing  for  certain  prin- 
ciples of  good  government.  Certainly  these  associations  if  they  have  done 
nothing  else  have  promoted  independent  voting.  They  have  taught  the 
people  to  some  degree  the  wisdom,  and  the  art  of  scratching  their  ballots, 
and  that  in  itself  has  been  a  great  advantage.  But  I  think  most  of  these 
associations  have  not  gone  far  enough.  They  have  frequently  stopped 
with  the  attempt  to  secure  men  of  good  character  in  the  city  councils. 

That  is  certainly  important:  But  I  believe  this  further  step  should 
be  taken  in  most  cities,  and  that  is  some  conclusion  should  be  reached 
by  these  organizations  on  some  reform  measures  that  are  desirable, 
something  in  the  nature  of  a  platform  subject  to  change  from  year 

to  year,  embodying  the  immediate  needs  of  the  city, 
The  Need  of  for  frequently  you  will  find  that  the  city  does  not  so 
a  Platform  much  need  a  large  number  of  independent  men  in  the 

council,  men  of  high  character,  as  it  does  a  concentra- 
tion of  the  bulk  of  the  community  on  a  mayor  and  one  or  tw^o  leaders  of 
public  policy  along  certain  lines  and  a  council  committed  to  those  ideas, 
honest  and  loyal  to  them,  but — it  is  not  necessary  to  get  all  men  of 
the  caliber  of  our  strongest  business  men  in  the  council,  desirable  as 
that  may  be.  It  is  very  desirable  to  have  some  leader  in  the  mayor's 
chair  with  policies  that  the  people  wish  and  with  a  following  in  the 
council  committed  to  those  ideas,  and  I  believe  more  and  more  our  asso- 
ciations will  recognize  that  and  will  seek  out  the  principles  that  are  neces- 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


91 


sary  from  time  to  time  for  the  next  advanced  step  in  their  immediate 
city. 

And  we  are  coming  to  realize,  as  Professor  Zueblin  remarked  in  a  lec- 
ture in  Cleveland  last  week,  that  we  are  passing  beyond  the  eighteenth 
century  conception  that  the  object  of  government  is  the  greatest  good  of 
the  greatest  number,  and  we  are  coming  to  adopt  the  twentieth  century 

doctrine  that  the  purpose  of  government  is  the  greatest 
The  Greatest  good  of  all.  For,  as  he  said,  the  greatest  good  of  the 
Good  of  All         greatest  number  is  still  consistent  with  the  slum  and 

with  child  labor,  and  with  many  of  the  other  evils  that 
affect  a  minority  of  the  population.  At  least  it  is  often  so  interpreted.  In 
determining  what  our  associations  shall  undertake,  I  believe  we  need  broad 
sympathy.  In  the  past,  more  than  in  the  present,  reform  organizations 
started  out  with  the  one  theory  of  attacking  vice  by  direct  repression. 
Now  they  are  coming  to  see  that  the  causes  of  poverty  or  of  distress,  the 
causes  of  ill  health  and  of  bad  government  must  be  attacked,  and  not 
merely  a  repressive  policy  which  may  antagonize  certain  of  our  immi- 
grant population,  which  are  not  vicious  at  heart,  but  which  have  been 
brought  up  with  somewhat  different  ideas  perhaps  with  regard  to  the 
saloons  and  yet  would  be  with  us  in  larger  reform  work. 

In  many  cities  we  are  ready,  I  think,  for  the  home  rule  platform  so  suc- 
cessfully in  operation  in  some  of  our  western  states,  notably  in  California, 
under  which  cities  will  be  given  a  greater  power  in  the  formation  of  their 
own  charters.  In  fact  they  are  ready  for  most  of  the  propositions  so  ad- 
mirably worked  out  many  years  ago  by  this  League  in  its  famous  publi- 
cation, the  Municipal  Program,  so  far  in  advance  of  the  time  in  which 
it  appeared  that  even  yet  we  have  not  in  most  cities  got  within  sight  of 

that  program.  I  have  often  wondered  that  more 
The  Municipal  attention  has  not  been  paid  to  it.  It  seems  to  me  the 
Program  most  notable  work  that  this  League  has  performed. 

The  concentration  of  power  in  administration  at  Wash- 
ington in  the  president  who  appoints  his  cabinet  and  practically  controls 
the  administrative  side  of  the  government  has  been  attended  with  such 
favorable  results  that  we  are  going  to  see  a  great  extension  of  that  prin- 
ciple not  only  in  our  cities,  but  in  our  counties  and  in  our  states  and  we  are 
going  to  cease  to  elect  the  many  that  are  now  elected  and  whose  duties  are 
not  so  distinct  from  that  of  the  mayor,  the  head  of  the  county  or  the  gov- 
ernor, but  that  they  could  well  be  appointed  by  such  officers. 

I  believe  that  such  a  ballot  as  most  of  us  had  to  vote  recently  with  thirty 
to  fifty  officers  to  be  chosen  on  it  aside  from  the  president  is  ridiculous. 
In  Ohio  we  had  to  select  over  fifty  officials — and  six  different  tickets  too, 
thus  there  were  five  or  six  hundred  names  on  the  ballots,  over  four  hun- 
dred aside  from  the  presidential  electors — and  we  cannot  have  good 
government  to  a  full  degree  until  we  recognize  that  such  officers  as  city 
clerks,  attorneys,  coroners,  sheriffs,  etc.,  should  be  appointed  by  the  mayor 
just  as  much  as  the  president  of  the  United  States  appoints  his  cabinet. 


92 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


It  is  only  in  that  way  that  you  will  get  great  men,  men  of  pronounced 
reform  leanings,  and  at  the  same  time  with  high  standing  in  the  com- 
munity, to  undertake  the  work.  Naturally  we  oppose  the  spoils  system, 
but  we  should  study  the  English  method  which  is  based  upon  the  develop- 
ment of  such  a  spirit  in  the  community  as  will  invest  the  head  of  a  depart- 
ment with  large  powers  and  hold  him  responsible  for  the  results.  That 
is  the  method  under  which  the  English  and  Scotch  have  so  well  succeeded 
in  what  they  have  undertaken.  We  may  not  be  ready  for  that  yet.  We 
probably  shall  do  well  to  adhere  to  most  of  the  methods  of  our  present 
civil  service,  but  I  think  that  the  broad  study  that  these  municipal  asso- 
ciations and  leagues  will  give  to  the  city  work  will  not  ignore  that  or 
any  other  method  of  getting  good  government,  not  at  all  inconsistent  with 
the  American  method,  but  which  after  all  is  quite  distinct  in  principle 
and  which  follows  the  practice  of  a  large  business  house  or  railroad,  and 
seeks  efficiency  primarily  by  lodging  large  power  in  the  head  of  a  depart- 
ment, as  I  said,  and  holding  him  responsible  for  results. 

As  our  cities  undertake  more  of  the  business  phases  of  work,  more  and 
more  will  they  be  compelled  to  think  of  efficiency  in  their  work.  We  are 
really  not  enlarging  the  functions  of  government  in  theory  so  much,  but 
we  are  seeking  new  applications  of  old  theories.  We  have  always  found  it 
necessary  to  protect  from  burglary,  but  as  Dr.  Albert  Shaw  remarked  last 
night  at  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  dinner  at  Cleveland,  we  now  realize 
that  a  man  can  protect  himself  from  burglary  much 
Extension  better  than  he  can  from  diphtheria  or  typhoid,  and 

of  Sanitary  therefore  there  is  a  greater  call  today  really  for  the 
Functions  extension  of  the  sanitary  functions  of  government  than 

there  is  for  the  development  of  the  police  force. 

Yet  that  is  not  a  new  function  of  government,  it  is  really  an  extension 
of  an  old  one.  We  shall  naturally  study  the  question  of  public  franchises, 
and  whether  we  think  our  cities  are  ready  for  municipal  management  or 
not  we  shall  I  believe  hold  to  a  very  rigid  control  and  the  right  through 
direct  legislation  to  bring  matters  up  for  review  as  was  so  strongly 
urged  by  your  own  Municipal  Program  years  ago.  We  shall  naturally 
study  what  is  being  done  in  our  cities  in  those  directions. 

I  remember  how  much  distressed  I  was  at  one  of  the  meetings  of  this 
League  some  years  ago  to  find  an  influential  member  from  this  city, 
tmacquainted  with  the  work  of  your  Allegheny  municipal  electric  light 
plant  which  has  been  the  focus  of  a  great  deal  of  discussion  as  bearing  on 
the  question  of  municipal  lighting,  where  general  political  conditions  are 
bad,  operating  expense,  plus  the  entire  cost  of  the  plant,  if  distributed 
over  the  lights  with  allowance  made  for  the  lights  furnished  to  public 
buildings,  has  been  less  by  $470,000  than  the  cost  in  Pittsburgh  of  the 
same  kind  and  number  of  lights  rented  from  a  private  company  since 
Allegheny  began  municipal  ownership  in  1890  from  the  same  time  (about 
1890  or  thereabouts)  at  which  the  Allegheny  plant  was  built.  But 
whether  that  be  true  or  not,  recent  careful  investigation  of  its  entire 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


93 


history  has  shown  astonishing  and  significant  success  despite  its  handi- 
caps.   This  is  such  a  subject  of  investigation  as  our  municipal  associa- 
tions should  take  up.    They  should  study  the  water 
J  department.    They  should  study  the  efficiency  of  all 

f  the  departments  in  a  healthy  way.    Not  with  the  idea 

Efficiency  q£  throwing  stones  at  those  departments  or  their  chiefs 

but  with  the  idea  of  cooperating  with  them.  We  will 
naturally  take  up  the  question  of  direct  legislation,  which  is  coming,  but 
which  needs  a  great  deal  of  education,  so  that  the  voter  may  understand 
the  enormous  responsibilities  which  they  are  assuming. 

Direct  legislation,  direct  nomination  is  in  the  air,  and  whether  we  wish 
it  or  not  we  shall  find  it  with  us.  I  believe  in  it  myself,  but  I  believe  it 
one  of  the  great  functions  of  our  municipal  associations  to  educate  the 
movement.  We  shall  find  that  ignorance,  lack  of  public  support,  are  the 
great  foes  we  have  to  contend  with.  We  shall  find  in  too  many  cases  the 
pocket  nerve  of  some  of  our  most  prominent  and  best  citizens  is  against 
us,  and  that  is  after  all  in  many  respects  the  hardest  problem  we  have  to 
deal  with.  In  approaching  all  these  questions  through  our  associations 
and  leagues  there  are  one  or  two  tendencies  in  our  midst  which  we  have 
to  fight,  and  with  those  I  will  close  this  discussion  so  far  as  I  am  con- 
cerned. 

We  shall  have  to  cultivate  the  democratic  spirit  and  the  spirit  of  popular 
sympathy  with  people  and  frankness  in  dealing  with  them.  Not  the  idea 
that  we  know  what  the  people  should  want  and  will 
Cultivate  the  crowd  it  down  their  throats  whether  they  want  it  or 
Democratic  not;  not  hardly  being  willing  to  touch  them  with  a 
Spirit  ioot  pole.    We  must  cultivate  a  democratic  spirit 

in  our  work. 

Reform  movements,  I  think,  suffer  more  from  the  extravagance  of 
their  friends  than  from  the  attacks  of  their  enemies.  We  exaggerate 
much  too  frequently  the  badness  of  our  opponents  and  what  we  can 
offer,  and  then  they  are  able  to  pick  us  to  pieces  and  say  that  we  did 
not  carry  out  quite  all  we  said  we  would,  or  things  were  not  quite  so 
bad  in  some  respects  as  we  said  they  were,  and  that  we  had  been  a  little 
unjust  in  some  things.  Then  we  lose  the  grip  upon  the  public  which 
we  ought  not  to  lose,  which  we  did  not  deserve  to  lose,  but  which  is  due 
to  our  not  appreciating  human  nature.  The  attacks  of  our  enemies  we 
can  meet.  Our  own  extravagances  are  more  difficult  to  meet  with  and 
I  think  it  behooves  us  to  be  quite  sane  in  all  our  statements.  I  don't 
mean  that  we  should  not  encourage  hope  in  ourselves.  There  is  pro- 
found truth  in  the  remarks  of  the  sacred  writer  that  "We  are  saved 
by  hope, "  but  that  is  different  from  exaggeration  of  statement.  And 
finally,  I  think  we  need  in  all  our  associations  to  bear  in  mind  that  per- 
haps there  is  a  vice  in  the  American  temperament  rarely  touched  upon 
I  think  in  the  pulpit,  but  which  I  think  is  perhaps  a  great  and  most 
fundamental  weakness  in  our  civic  work,  and  that  is  lack  of  courage. 


94 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


The  great  tendency  is  to  fear  some  bad  results  in  our  business  or  pro- 
fessional standing  or  in  what  our  neighbors  will  think 
The  Lack  about  us  if  we  go  into  reform  work,  and  we  lose  heart, 

of  Courage  we  lose  courage.  We  need  courage.  We  need  that 
above,  I  think,  almost  anything  else.  We  know  in  most 
cases  better  than  we  act.  And  with  that  thought  I  will  bring  this 
already  too  lengthy  series  of  remarks  to  a  close.  I  thank  you  for  your 
attention.  [Applause.] 

The  President:  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  We  have  listened  with  great 
interest  and  pleasure  to  what  Dr.  Bemis  had  to  say.  Before  calling  upon 
the  next  gentleman  whose  name  I  find  on  the  program  I  will  mention  that 
the  program  also  says  that  remarks  are  limited  to  ten  minutes.  That 
portion  of  it  will  be  construed  by  the  chairman  with  a  strong  leaning 
toward  cruelty  in  regard  to  the  audience.  [Laughter.]  Nevertheless 
it  will  have  to  be  in  a  measure  observed.  We  shall  now  hear  from  Mr. 
John  C.  Winston  of  Philadelphia,  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Seventy 
of  Philadelphia. 

Mr.  Winston:  A  condition,  not  a  theory,  confronted  the  citizens  of 
Philadelphia  in  1905  when  they  enlisted  to  secure  better  government  for 
their  city.  They  carefully  considered  the  plan  of  the  Chicago  Voters 
League  and  sent  for  its  Secretary,  who  came  to  Philadelphia  and  outlined 
the  Chicago  method  and  the  magnificent  results  secured.  But  we  were 
powerless  to  put  it  into  operation  because  of  the 
Philadelphia's  peculiar  conditions  existing  in  Philadelphia  at  that 
Peculiar  time: 

Condition  First:  the   electorate  was  made  up  from  padded 

assessors'  lists  and  we  had  no  means  of  securing  a  list 
of  voters  sufficiently  accurate  to  make  an  election  under  existing  political 
organizations  worth  the  trouble  of  going  to  the  polls.  There  were,  as 
was  shortly  demonstrated  and  admitted  by  all  parties,  not  less  than 
60,000  fraudulent  names  on  the  assessors'  lists. 

The  election  officers  were  nearly  all  of  one  party  or  of  a  minority  which 
was  ready  to  cooperate  with  the  majority  to  defeat  any  attempt  at  reform. 
We  were  practically  disfranchised.  Thus  we  were  forced  to  the  reluctant 
conclusion  that  our  only  remedy  was  to  organize  a  new  party  which  should 
reach  every  one  of  the  eleven  hundred  election  divisions  in  the  city,  and 
thus  secure  representatives  on  the  election  boards  and  watchers  at  the 
polls.  We  took  the  name  of  City  Party,  as  indicating  our  independence 
of  state  and  national  politics,  and  invited  voters  of  all  political  faiths  who 
desired  better  city  government  to  join  in  overthrowing  the  organization 
which  absolutely  controlled  the  elections  and  the  government. 

By  making  a  house  to  house  canvass  in  every  election  division,  we 
succeeded  in  striking  off  about  50,000  fraudulent  names  from  the  list  of 
voters  as  made  up  by  the  assessors.    This  was  a  revelation,  for  while 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


95 


everyone  knew  that  fraud  was  being  committed,  no  one  dared  to  charge 
or  believe  that  in  many  divisions  from  one-fourth  to  three-fourths  of  the 
names  on  the  assessors'  lists  were  myths,  names  of  dead  men,  cats  and 
dogs,  and,  in  some  cases,  made  from  labels  on  bottles  in  the  drug  store. 

To  have  merely  eliminated  these  fraudulent  names  from  the  list  of 
voters  would  indeed  have  been  only  a  temporary  gain;  but  public  senti- 
ment was  so  aroused  by  this  startling  revelation  that 
Padded  it  became  possible  at  the  extra  session  of  the  Legislature 

Lists  to  secure  a  personal  registration  law,  which  will  forever 

make  such  a  condition  impossible. 

The  primary  elections  at  which  the  nominations,  dictated  by  the 
"Machine"  were  made,  were  even  a  greater  farce  than  the  general  elections, 
so  that  any  attempt  to  secure  either  the  nomination  or  election  of  inde- 
pendent men  to  office  by  means  of  the  machinery  of  existing  political 
organizations  was  utterly  futile. 

The  success  of  the  City  Party  in  1905  in  overwhelmingly  defeating  the 
so-called  Republican  Organization  resulted  in  calling  an  extra  session  of 
the  Legislature  to  repeal  the  ripper  bill,  thus  preserving  our  excellent  city 
charter.  But  more  important  even  than  the  repeal  of  the  ripper  bill  was 
the  passage  of  the  personal  registration  law  and  the  uniform  primary  act — 
not  to  speak  of  the  excellent  civil  service  act  for  Philadelphia,  and  other 
valuable  legislation. 

These  were  not  temporary  results,  and  the  only  way  in  my  judgment 
they  could  have  been  accomplished  was  by  means  of  creating  new  party 
machinery  with  all  the  rights  of  a  political  party  in  the  conduct  of  the 
elections.  The  old  Municipal  League  and  independent  citizens,  as  well 
as  many  of  the  best  Republican  and  Democratic  newspapers,  had  been 
clamoring  for  years  for  a  personal  registration  of  voters  as  the  "sine  qua 
non"  of  honest  elections.  At  every  session  of  the  Legislature  the  matter 
was  urged,  but  all  to  no  avail.  Nothing  short  of  the  demonstration  of 
the  power  of  the  people,  when  organized,  to  defeat  the  "Machine"  would 
have  secured  this  most  invaluable  legislation,  which  can  never  be  wiped 
out  and  without  which  citizens  were  powerless  because  disfranchised. 

I  emphasize  these  permanent  results  of  the  City  Party  movement 
because  so  well  informed  a  man  as  Mr.  Binkerd  has  referred  to  the 
work  of  this  movement  as  temporary,  only  to  be 
The  City  Party  followed  by  a  relapse  into  conditions  little  if  any  better. 
Movement  Reformers  are  idealistic  and  because  they  promulgate 

a  larger  program  than  they  are  able  to  perform,  they 
are  usually  credited  even  by  their  friends  with  less  than  they  actually 
accomplish. 

In  this  connection,  it  should  be  noted  that  while,  owing  to  the  disaffec- 
tion and  treachery  of  certain  elements  who  never  were  a  part  of  the  real 
independent  citizens'  movement,  the  City  Party  narrowly  failed  to  elect 
its  candidate  for  mayor  and  thus  lost  the  opportunity  to  demonstrate  its 
usefulness  in  control  of  the  city  government,  nevertheless  it  did  elect  a 


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large  number  of  strong  independent  members  to  Councils,  such  as  George 
Bumham,  Jr.,  whom  you  all  know,  and  at  our  recent  presidential  election, 
the  City  Party  polled  73,000  votes  for  its  independent  candidate  for 
sheriff,  after  a  desultory  campaign  of  only  two  weeks  made  without  money 
and  with  little  organization.  This,  mind  you,  is  four  years  after  the  first 
organization  of  the  party,  and  three  years  after  its  first  wave  of  success. 

There  was  no  expectation  of  electing  Mr.  Gibboney.  Hence,  we  lacked 
the  strength  which  hope  of  success  gives.  There  was  also  the  usual 
pressure  at  a  Presidential  election  to  vote  the  straight  ticket.  The 
Democrats,  who  were  with  us  in  1905,  had  a  candidate  of  their  own. 
Under  such  circumstances,  to  have  polled  over  two-thirds  as  many  votes 
for  a  minor  official  as  at  the  time  of  our  greatest  real  strengfth,  does  not 
argue  for  lack  of  progressive  results,  from  this  independent  party  move- 
ment. 

I  grant  you  that  conditions  existing  in  Philadelphia  today  are  different 
from  those  in  1905,  and  we  are  seriously  considering  whether  the  time 
has  not  come  for  work  along  the  line  of  the  Chicago  Voters'  League,  which, 
as  I  understand,  works  through  existing  political  organizations.  These 
national  organizations  have  the  advantage  of  being  permanent,  but  our 
difficulty  in  Philadelphia  is  that  the  minority  party  is  weak  and  often 
subservient  to  the  majority  party. 

In  Chicago  and  other  cities  where  the  parties  are  more  evenly  balanced 
or  are  at  least  in  real  opposition  to  each  other,  the  methods  of  the  Voters' 
League  have  a  better  opportunity.  Nevertheless,  I  am  not  sure  but  that 
under  our  present  primary  election  law,  we  could  accomplish  better 
results  by  using  our  energy  to  secure  good  nominations  on  the  Republican 
and  Democratic  tickets. 

But,  gentlemen,  let  me  say  in  conclusion  that  the  more  I  think  on  this 
subject  the  more  I  am  convinced  that  we  will  never  have  efficient 
government  in  our  cities  in  the  United  States  until 
Elimin  tion  of  ^^^^^^^^  party  lines  are  eliminated  from  our  city  elec- 
tions. It  will  be  a  long  step  in  this  direction  to  have 
Party  Lines  q^j.  election  for  city  officers  at  a  different  time  from 
either  state  or  national  elections.  While  it  may  be 
expedient  under  the  existing  conditions  in  most  of  our  cities  to  cobperate 
with  national  parties,  I  am  convinced  that  we  will  never  get  satisfactory 
results  until  we  get  rid  of  party  lines  and  look  upon  our  city  governments 
as  having  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  national  policies. 

It  is  a  source  of  great  weakness  that  our  city  governments  are  modeled 
upon  our  national  and  state  governments.  The  reasons  for  separating 
the  functions  of  national  and  state  governments  into  executive,  legislative, 
and  judicial  do  not  apply  to  city  governments.  If  in  Philadelphia  our 
councilmen  could  be  elected  at  large  and  a  much  smaller  number  chosen, 
we  would  obtain  far  better  results.  The  chief  reason  why  Washington 
is  the  best  governed  city  in  the  United  States  is,  that  its  government  is 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


97 


absolutely  free  from  party  politics.  The  idea  that  each  ward  in  the 
city  should  have  a  representation  on  the  theory  that  it  has  interests 
separate  and  apart  from  the  interest  of  the  city  at  large  is  a  fallacy. 
Such  problems  as  water  supply,  street  paving,  street  cleaning,  illumina- 
tion, police  regulation,  and  the  taxation  for  these  objects  are  purely  busi- 
ness questions  which  can  have  no  possible  relation  to  questions  of  national 
policy  and  which  should  be  considered  from  a  purely  business  standpoint 
and  not  from  the  standpoint  of  questions  of  party  policy  and  party 
patronage. 

Time  does  not  permit  the  elaboration  of  this  subject,  but  I  believe  that 
the  great  source  of  weakness  and  the  great  cause  of  failure  in  the  efficiency 
of  our  city  governments  can  be  traced  to  the  attempt  to  model  our  city 
government  upon  our  national  government.  We  must  get  rid  of  this  idea 
before  we  can  have  efficient  business  administration  in  our  cities. 

You  see  we  are  somewhat  inducted  in  this  matter,  and  we  are  trying  to 
work  out  our  salvation,  if  we  do  not  become  discouraged,  I  think  the  re- 
marks of  our  last  speaker  touched  the  key  note  of  this  whole  matter  when 
he  said  it  was  not  so  much  a  question  of  method  as  a  question  of  maintain- 
ing our  courage  and  our  independence  and  keeping  at  it. 

The  President.  We  will  next  hear,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  from  Mr. 
Elliott  Hunt  Pendleton  of  Cincinnati,  editor  of  the  Citizens'  Bulletin. 

Mr.  Pendleton  :  Mr.  Binkerd  in  his  paper  referred  to  the  fact  that  this 
question  had  been  considered  at  the  round  table  conference  we  had  in 
Atlantic  City  some  two  years  ago,  and  also  expressed  his  disappoint- 
ment that  the  matter  was  not  settled  at  that  time.  I  am  afraid  he  will 
suffer  another  disappointment  at  this  meeting,  because  I  do  not  think  we 
shall  all  agree  today  as  to  just  what  should  be  done. 

This  same  subject  came  up  for  consideration  at  the  round  table  con- 
ference that  was  held  in  Chicago  in  1905.  It  was  discussed  at  a  luncheon 
which  was  attended  by  some  thirty  or  more.  Mr.  Murphy,  the  secretary 
of  the  Citizens  Union  of  New  York,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  Steffens  participated 
and  Mr.  Walter  L.  Fisher  presided.  Mr.  George  E.  Cole,  the  founder  of 
the  Municipal  Voters  League,  was  also  present  and  we  discussed  the  sub- 
ject for  four  hours,  and  the  meeting  was  an  interesting  and  lively  one  and 
it  nearly  broke  up  in  a  row,  and  it  would  have,  I  think,  if  it  had  not  been 
for  the  remarks  that  were  made  by  Mr.  Cole.  Mr.  Cole  finally  said  ' '  There 
is  no  one  way  of  doing  this  thing.  We  of  Chicago  are  familiar  with  our 
local  conditions,  and  we  can  meet  them  and  think  perhaps  the  Municipal 
Voters  League  plan  is  best,  which  perhaps  it  is  for  us,  but  we  don't  know 
what  your  conditions  are  in  Cincinnati  and  Kansas  City.  But  I  want  to 
say  before  we  adjourn,  the  important  thing  it  to  keep  everlastingly  at  it. 
If  one  plan  does  not  succeed,  try  another." 

Now  I  have  often  recalled  Mr.  Cole's  advice.  We  have  followed  it  in 
Cincinnati.    We  have  tried  one  plan  and  then  another  and  we  are  going 


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to  keep  on  tr^-ing  ever\'  plan  that  commends  itself  to  us.  The  challenge 
has  been  issued  by  the  national  parties,  which  through  corrupt  machines 
have  been  debauching  our  city  government;  therefore,  the  choice  of 
weapons  is  ours  and  I  believe  in  selecting  that  weapon  whether  it  be  the 
municipal  voters'  league  or  whether  it  be  the  city  party  or  whether  it 
be  the  city  club  or  whether  it  be  a  vigilance  committee  or  whether  it  be 
a  detective  bureau,  which  will  prove  most  effective  in  accomplishing  the 
utter  annihilation  of  the  enemies  of  good  municipal  government.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

We  have  been  in  earnest  in  Cincinnati,  and  have  considered  this  matter 
carefully.  Of  course  we  have  made  mistakes,  but  we  did  not  intend  to, 
therefore  what  we  did  do  will  give  you  the  result  of  our  best  thought. 

The  Citizens'  Municipal  party  was  started  in  the  spring  of  1903.  It 
grew  up  in  this  way.  There  was  a  factional  fight  in  the  Democratic  party 
and  neither  faction  could  get  control  of  the  executive 
Cincinnati's  committee.  So  a  compromise  was  effected.  They 
Municipal  Party  said:  ""We  will  appoint  another  outside  committee  of 
twenty-six  citizens  and  will  turn  the  entire  campaign 
over  to  them."  I  was  a  member  of  that  committee.  At  our  first  meet- 
ing twenty-five  out  of  the  twenty-six  were  present,  and  each  man  was 
asked  as  to  whether  it  would  be  wise  to  stick  to  the  regular  Democratic 
ticket,  Democrats  from  top  to  bottom,  and  also  to  have  the  party  emblem 
at  the  head,  which  is  a  rooster  in  Ohio,  or  whether  it  would  be  better  to 
nominate  a  non-partisan  Citizens'  ticket.  When  my  turn  to  discuss  the 
question  came  I  put  the  following  queries  to  my  associates:  "What  is 
your  object?  Do  you  wish  to  make  as  good  a  showing  as  possible  in  the 
approaching  election  or  are  you  willing  to  enter  upon  a  fight  for  good 
city  government  on  absolutely  non-partisan  lines  and  to  keep  up  that 
fight  until  victory  shall  crown  our  efforts?" 

Well,  I  think  what  they  wanted  to  do  was  to  make  the  best  showing 
in  the  coming  election.  But  they  thought  that  they  could  do  that  by 
putting  up  an  independent  ticket.  So  the  Citizens  Municipal  Party 
of  Cincinnati  was  then  started,  and  there  was  no  Democratic  ticket  in  the 
field,  and  the  Democratic  executive  committee  got  together  and  they 
passed  resolutions  that  for  all  time  to  come  they  would  stick  to  that  prin- 
ciple, the  principle  that  we  have  been  working  for  in  the  National  Munici- 
pal League,  in  order  that  future  generations  might  get  the  benefit  of  their 
action  on  that  day.  Well,  if  they  had  been  honest  and  straight  and  had 
stuck  to  that  determination,  what  better  plan,  gentlemen,  could  we  have 
devised? 

Well,  we  were  very  badly  beaten.  Then  we  reorganized  and  got  the 
true  reformers  in  charge  of  the  city  party.  The  next  election  was  in  the 
spring  of  1904,  and  we  thought  we  had  better  not  tackle  too  much,  and 
therefore  we  confined  ourselves  entirely  to  the  improvement  of  our  schools. 
Our  schools  had  come  to  the  very  lowest  notch,  although  twenty-five 
years  ago  they  stood  at  the  head  of  the  list.    All  this  was  due  to  machine 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


99 


politics.  The  school  board  had  been  turned  into  a  kindergarten  for  the 
training  of  machine  politicians.  There  was  no  salary  attached,  and  the 
boss  would  say  "go  and  carry  your  ward  for  the  school  board,  and  if  I 
see  you  can  do  that  I  will  take  your  case  into  consideration  and  give  you 
some  more  lucrative  position  later  on."  In  that  election  the  school 
board  ballot  was  a  separate  ballot,  but  party  designations  were  permissible. 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  then  existing  law  we  could 
School  Board  ■  have  on  our  ticket  in  a  school  board  election  candi- 
Fight  dates  taken  from  other  tickets.    We  indorsed  some 

good  Democrats.  Some  of  the  others  we  could  not 
indorse  at  all,  and  we  nominated  independent  candidates.  Perhaps  the 
best  result  of  that  particular  fight  was  that  we  defeated  the  bad  Demo- 
crats even  though  we  elected  the  men  on  the  Republican  ticket,  who 
were  very  much  better.  We  had  to  teach  the  Democratic  party  that 
it  would  have  to  respect  us  and  take  us  into  consideration. 

In  the  fall  of  1905  we  won.  That  was  due  to  several  causes.  The 
ticket  that  was  nominated  then  was  made  up  by  the  Democrats  and  with 
very  little  care  because  of  the  fact  that  nobody  expected  there  was  any 
chance  whatever  of  winning.  In  a  sense  the  result  was  an  accident. 
The  following  causes,  however,  may  be  credited  with  having  contributed 
to  the  successful  termination  of  the  campaign.  An  honest  elections 
committee  was  organized  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  election  frauds 
that  had  become  most  violent  and  flagrant.  That 
Honest  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  arousing  the  electorate 

Elections  of  the  city.    In  addition  to  that,  there  has  been  pre- 

Conunittee  viously  no  daily  newspaper  in  Cincinnati  that  would 

stand  for  reform  at  all,  but  in  our  previous  fight  we 
had  won  over  one  of  the  dailies  to  our  support  and  that  newspaper — The 
Cincinnati  Post — has  stood  by  us  ever  since.  You  can  imagine  how 
much  that  means.  Then  Secretary  Taft  made  his  famous  Akron  speech, 
and  that  of  course  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  result.  More  than  all 
was  the  victory  that  had  during  the  previous  spring  been  accomplished 
in  Philadelphia.  We  had  all  regarded  Philadelphia  as  being  at  the  bottom 
of  the  pit  and  Philadelphia  having  reformed  itself  to  a  certain  extent 
waked  us  up  not  a  little  bit.  It  would  not  have  done  for  Cincinnati  not 
to  have  won  that  time. 

Permit  me  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  Citizens  Municipal 
Party  executive  committee  when  it  was  reorganized  consisted  principally 
of  college  men,  and  that  half  of  them  were  Yale  men  and  half  Harvard 
men.  I  refer  to  the  matter  because  I  am  so  glad  that  Harvard  and  Yale 
men  and  college  men  generally  are  taking  a  greater  interest  in  all  move- 
ments which  have  been  inaugurated  to  better  municipal  conditions. 

Three  men  who  went  to  the  legislature  and  accomplished  so  much  good, 
were  Yale  men,  but  they  received  the  support  of  the  Harvard  men  and 
all  other  college  men  in  Cincinnati.  They  brought  about  a  direct  primary 
nomination  law,  a  new  municipal  code  putting  the  responsibility  upon 


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PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


the  mayor,  practically  making  him  the  real  mayor  instead  of  the  figure- 
head. Civil  service  in  all  departments  of  the  city  is  to  be  introduced. 
They  also  secured  the  enactment  of  a  law  for  a  small  school  board  and  a 
law  prohibiting  campaign  contributions  from  corporations;  a  law  provid- 
ing for  park  commissioners;  and  a  law  providing  for  a  small  school  board. 
We  had  a  school  board  of  twenty-seven;  we  have  got  it  down  now  to  a 
school  board  of  seven.  We  spent  in  fifty  years  only  one  dollar  per  capita 
for  high  schools  in  Cincinnati,  and  this  last  year,  in  one  year  alone  we 
expended  three  dollars  per  capita.  That,  it  seems  to  me,  shows  alone 
progress  in  the  reform  movement  in  Cincinnati. 

I  find  my  time  is  about  up,  and  I  shall  have  to  conclude  by  just  telling 
you  what  was  done  in  Cincinnati  at  the  election  this  fall  in  order  to  show 
what  progress  independent  voting  is  making  in  our  country.  Secretary 
Taft  carried  the  county  by  about  seventeen  thousand.  Judge  Harmon 
for  governor  on  the  Democratic  ticket  carried  the  county  by  about  nine- 
teen thousand.  Some  of  the  local  officers — and  remember  always  that 
Cincinnati  is  normally  and  largely  a  Republican  city — some  of  the  local 
officers  elected  were  Democrats.  Most  of  the  machine  candidates  were 
elected.  But  the  big  fight  we  made  was  for  the  prosecuting  attorneyship. 
The  Republican  machine  had  elected  its  prosecuting  attorney  for  twenty 
years,  and  we  had  been  trying  to  get  at  municipal  corruption  through 
legislative  committees,  but  the  court  stopped  the  investigation  of  these 
committees  and  the  last  decision  of  the  court  held:  "The  only  way  to 
do  this  is  in  the  legal  way,  through  the  county  prosecuting  attorney's 
office."  So  we  thought  that  was  all  we  would  fight  for  particularly  at 
this  time,  and  we  elected  our  man.  [Applause.  |  Notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  Secretary  Taft  carried  the  county  by  seventeen  thousand  our 
man  on  the  other  side  was  elected  to  this  particular  office  by  about  twenty- 
five  hundred.  [Applause.]  The  man  who  was  nominated  against  him 
on  the  machine  ticket  had  been  the  assistant  county  prosecutor.  His 
chief,  because  he  had  served  the  machine  so  well,  was  nominated  for  the 
bench,  and  we  also  succeeded  in  defeating  him. 

Allow  me  in  closing  to  refer  to  a  few  words  of  our  great  president. 
Although  I  do  not  agree  with  him  in  many  of  the  things  that  he  has  done, 
I  believe  that  President  Roosevelt  has  done  more  for 
President  the  advancement  of  reform  by  awakening  the  people 

Roosevelt  of  this  country  to  appreciate  the  evils  that  are  going 

and  Reform  *°  ^  greater  degree  than  any  other  president  we  have 

ever  had  in  the  White  House.  [Great  Applause.] 
What  a  condition  of  affairs  has  been  exposed  in  San  Francisco,  and  if 
something  is  not  done,  my  friends,  the  same  condition  will  develop  in  all 
of  our  American  cities.  Some  of  us  may  be  nearly  as  low  as  San  Francisco 
is  now.  (A  voice  "Another  earthquake  will  do  them  good.")  Speaking 
about  the  earthquake:  I  have  a  cousin  who  lives  there,  whose  property 
was  principally  real  estate.  When  the  earthquake  and  the  fire  came 
practically  all  of  her  fortune  was  swept  away,  certainly  temporarily. 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


lOI 


She  could  not  get  any  money  from  any  bank  to  pay  for  anything  for  the 
first  few  days.  She  wrote  me  during  the  first  few  days  after  that  awful 
catastrophe:  "Notwithstanding  all  that  has  happened  if  we  can  only 
reform  our  city  politics  I  shall  regard  the  earthquake  as  a  Godsend." 
Now  President  Roosevelt  telegraphed  to  Mr.  Spreckels  the  other  day  this: 
"Every  decent  American  who  has  the  honor  and  interest  of  the  country  at 
heart  should  join  not  only  in  putting  a  stop  to  the  wave  of  violent  crime 
of  which  this  man's  act  is  but  one  of  the  symptoms,  but  also  in  stamping 
out  the  hideous  corruption  in  which  men  like  this  would-be  assassin  are 
bred  and  flourish,  and  that  can  only  be  done  by  working,  as  Heney  has 
worked,  religiously  against  every  man  who  is  guilty  of  corrupt  practices 
without  any  regard  to  his  social  standing  or  his  prominence  in  the  world 
of  politics  or  the  world  of  business. " 

Let  us  take  the  advice  of  the  President  and  work  as  Heney  has  worked 
to  get  rid  of  and  eradicate  this  corruption.  [Applause.] 

The  President:  I  will  now  call  on  Mr.  John  A.  Butler,  of  Milwaukee, 
chairman  of  the  Wisconsin  Civil  Service  Reform  Association.  Mr.  Butler. 
[Applause.] 

Mr.  Butler:  Not  having  had  an  opportunity  to  examine  a  copy  of 
Mr.  Binkerd's  paper  before  reaching  Pittsburgh,  owing  to  causes  which 
were  unavoidable,  I  have  not  been  able  to  formally  discuss  its  various 
propositions,  and  my  thought  follows  somewhat  different  lines.  The 
principal  contention,  as  I  understand  it,  is  that  militant  political  work  can 
be  done  more  effectively  through  the  methods  of  the  voters  leagues  than 
through  the  attempted  election  of  independent  candidates.  I  think  under 
existing  conditions  that  that  is  probably  true,  but  it  does  not  seem  as  if 
the  citizen  ought  to  be  so  lacking  in  knowledge  of  policies  and  candi- 
dates, that  he  should  need  a  voters  league  to  tell  him  what  to  do,  and 
it  does  seem  as  if  he  might  reach  a  stage  of  development  in  which  the 
national  parties  might  be  non-partisan  locally  as  they  are  in  England. 

The  work  of  the  voters  leagues  is  so  admirable,  as  a  temporary  expedient, 
that  it  would  seem  ungracious  to  say  that  their  existence  indicates  the 
local  breakdown  of  popular  government,  the  citizen 
Voters  being  unable  to  know  and  judge  for  himself,  and  being 

Leagues,  a  further  weakened  by  having  such  organizations  investi- 

Temporary  gate  for  him,  and  still  there  is  some  truth  in  that 
Expedient  statement.    It  seems  to  me  that  the  trouble  lies  deeper, 

and  requires  the  development  of  a  general  militant  citi- 
zenship, which  can  and  will  solve  its  own  problems  in  its  own  way,  and  I 
should  readily  agree  that  all  the  methods  now  in  vogue  promote  that 
development. 

But  the  qualities  of  militant  citizenship  cannot  be  instantly  aroused, 
or  created  at  will,  or  by  anything  less  than  the  fires  of  inner  conviction, 
though  they  will  certainly  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  municipal,  which 
is  closely  related  to  the  social  situation,  as  the  struggle  for  a  better  and 


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higher  future  progresses,  with  imperative  demands  upon  character  and 
thought;  and  it  may  be  that  all  the  splendor  of  the  past  will  be  eclipsed 
by  the  mighty  workings  of  the  crucible  out  of  which  the  future  shall 
proceed. 

There  are  militant  citizens,  far  sighted,  widely  informed,  and  earnest 
men,  but  there  is  as  yet  no  sufficient  body  of  militant  citizenship,  inspired 
by  the  unity  of  purpose  which  springs  from  united  opin- 
Militant  Jqjj  upon  realized  evils,  and  the  development  of  that 

Citizens,  but  citizenship  seems  to  be  the  only  means  by  which  an 
not  Militant  "awakened  public  conscience  and  an  interest  in  pubUc 
Citizenship  affairs"  can  be  made  available  and  effective.  The 
fountain  cannot  rise  higher  than  its  source,  and  the 
effort  for  municipal  betterment  cannot  be  higher  and  greater  than  the 
ideas  and  beliefs  of  the  people.  Unity  of  efiFort  and  certainty  of  results 
are  not  probable,  on  any  very  considerable  scale,  until  the  people  thor- 
oughly understand  both  the  problem  and  the  remedy.  The  moment  they 
are  fully  instructed  and  inspired,  the  change  will  amount  to  a  virtual  revo- 
lution, and  the  admirable  paper  of  Mr.  English  at  yesterday's  session  is 
significant  of  such  a  departure  in  a  very  important  quarter. 

There  are  temporary  ebulitions  of  general  interest  in  better  conditions, 
to  be  sure,  on  the  part  of  considerable  bodies  of  men,  under  devoted  lead- 
ership, but  they  are  usually  based  upon  the  impulse  produced  by  an  inad- 
equate realization,  and  rarely  amount  to  anything  but  demonstrations 
which  rapidly  subside.  They  are  nevertheless  not  without  significance, 
and  cumulative  coherence  and  strength,  as  they  succeed  each  other,  pre- 
paratory to  the  general  and  more  stable  movement  of  which  they  are  the 
forerunners.  Excellent  men,  shocked  by  disgraceful  disclosures,  get 
together  with  a  vague  wish  for  improved  conditions,  and  find  themselves 
hampered  by  a  narrow  and  shortsighted  self-interest  incompatible  with  a 
wholehearted  cnisade  for  political  and  social  righteousness.  Pohtical 
allegiance  sometimes  bUnds  and  impedes  them,  or  they  find  themselves 
enmeshed  in  general  commercial  relations  with  public  ser\uce  companies, 
or  politician  controlled  public  institutions,  to  which  they  sell  their  mer- 
chandise, or  by  which  they  are  controlled  through  a  realization  of  past 
obligations,  and  a  desire  for  future  favors.  Some  of  these  relations,  which 
are  a  part  of  the  general  texture  of  commercial  and  political  life,  are  com- 
patible with  a  high  degree  of  personal  integrity  and  public  spirit,  in  many 
directions,  but  they  are  entangling  alliances  which  can  only  be  overcome 
by  the  consciousness  of  a  greater  danger,  and  a  higher  interest,  and  the 
earnest  conviction,  based  upon  adequate  knowledge,  of  the  gravity  of  the 
situation;  and  of  the  value  of  broad  grounds  of  public  poUcy  as  a  safeguard 
for  the  justifiable  private  interests  of  all  concerned. 

That  a  new  future  is  already  at  our  doors  no  thoughtful  man  will  deny, 
and  it  is  quite  as  certain  that  its  character  will  depend  wholly  upon  the 
influences  which  inspire  and  equip  the  new  citizenship,  militant  or  other- 
wise.   That  the  work  of  improving  the  conditions  of  urban  life,  that  piv- 


I 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


otal  point  in  social  andpolitical  existence,  where  the  pressure  is  most  keenly 
felt,  and  the  contrasts  are  most  obvious,  is  a  part  of  the  ferment  out  of 
which  a  militant  citizenship  is  to  issue,  is  beyond  question,  and  the  early 
recognition  of  that  fact  by  this  organization  has  been  most  fortunate. 
Our  work  has  been  generously  supported,  but  when  we  realize  the  obstacles 
which  confront  us,  and  the  depths  of  apathy  which  still  exist,  the  support 
which  we  receive  and  which  is  also  extended  to  the  related  work  of  civil 
service  reform,  is  pitifully  meager  and  inadequate,  and  one  of  the  surest 
tests  of  the  extent  of  that  enlightened  good  citizenship  which  maintains 
two  of  the  most  powerful  agencies  of  social  and  political  regeneration. 

As  one  of  those  who  were  earliest  in  the  field,  in  the  effort  to  rescue  our 
cities,  I  am  constantly  impressed  by  the  need  of  a  still  higher  level,  and  a 
far  greater  body  of  good  citizenship,  before  the  scope  of  our  undertakings 
can  be  increased  as  it  should  be,  and  the  work  so  prosecuted  as  to  produce 
adequate  results;  and  I  hope  to  be  able  to  indicate  in  theconclusion  of  this 
paper  at  least  one  of  the  ways  in  which  the  forces  of  reform  can  be  mate- 
rially augmented  and  militant  political  work  accomplished. 

We  are  entitled  to  feel  encouraged  by  the  development  of  an  earnest 
reform  sentiment  which  extends  from  coast  to  coast,  and  which  we  were 
among  the  first  to  help  inspire  and  promote;  and  if  it 
Development      has  sometimes  resulted  in  militant  politics  upon  a 
of  Reform  basis  of  partial  self-interest,  rather  than  that  high  type 

Sentimetlt  °^  disinterested  and  vigorous  citizenship  to  which  we 

have  so  long  looked  forward  to,  it  is  due  to  the  attrac- 
tiveness of  the  proverbial  sheep's  clothing  to  the  political  wolf,  and  demon- 
strates an  awakened  public  conscience  to  which  the  politician  is  quick 
to  appeal,  and  of  which  he  usually  takes  advantage. 

The  reports  of  Secretary  Woodruff,  year  after  year,  are  a  splendid  and 
most  interesting  record  of  accomplished  work,  and  show  that  local  efforts 
in  many  cities  have  been  crowned  with  success,  and  it  is  an  encouraging 
fact  that  the  influence  of  local  agitation  is  far  greater  than  the  apparent 
interest  of  the  people  would  indicate,  The  former  Municipal  League 
of  Milwaukee,  for  example,  with  a  small  membership,  exercised  an  ac- 
knowledged restraining  influence  on  the  conduct  of  city  affairs  for  many 
years,  and  its  educational  work  was  continuous.  It  is  not  exaggeration 
to  say  that  its  example  led  to  much  that  has  been  accomplished  since.  It 
placed  the  appointment  of  several  thousand  city  employees  on  the  merit 
basis.  It  saved  the  tax  payers  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  by  defeat- 
ing efforts  of  the  city  government,  before  the  legislature,  to  have  the  tax 
rate  raised  from  fourteen  to  fifteen  and  one-half  mills.  It  secured  the 
passage  of  an  improved  school  board  lav\^,  which  unfortunately  was  after- 
wards repealed.  It  opened  the  fight  against  granting  the  street  railway 
company  further  gratuitous  franchises,  some  years  ago,  and  unfortunately 
ceased  to  exist  shortly  afterwards,  the  fight  being  taken  up  more  sensation- 
ally, though  not  more  vigorously  by  a  body  of  quasi-political  reformers 
who  enjoined  the  Council  from  granting  the  franchises  in  question,  but 


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naturally  failed  to  attain  the  desired  result.  Some  years  later  the  Voters 
League  was  established  and  is  still  in  existence  and  doing  very  useful  work. 
Another  body  known  as  the  "Committee  of  Ten"  did  energetic  work  in 
ferreting  out,  and  securing  the  prosecution  of  a  considerable  number  of 
municipal  malefactors,  many  of  whom  were  convicted  and  fined  or  im- 
prisoned. Then  came  the  Civil  Service  Reform  Association  which,  with 
the  aid  of  the  National  Civil  Service  Reform  League,  induced  the  Legisla- 
ture to  pass  a  civil  service  law  for  the  state. 

The  last  expression  of  reform  sentiment,  resulting  from  the  third  or 
fourth  reelection  of  a  spoils  mayor  celebrated  for  making  Milwaukee  a 
"wide  open  town"  took  place  last  spring  in  the  forma- 
Federation  of  tion  of  the  "Federation  of  Civic  Societies,"  devoted  to 
Civic  Societies  the  cause  of  better  government,  and  a  watchful  guar- 
dianship of  the  merit  system.  The  federation  has  not 
yet  had  time  to  do  much  active  work,  but  much  is  hoped  from  it.  The 
Westminster  League,  the  Men's  Clubs  of  St.  James  Church,  and  the  Grand 
Avenue  Congregational  Church,  and  several  smaller  clubs,  component 
parts  of  the  Federation,  promise  a  good  degree  of  activity.  The  West- 
minster League  in  particular,  under  the  energetic  leadership  of  Mr.  H.  C. 
Campbell,  has  succeeded  in  inducing  the  School  Board  to  permit  the  use  of 
the  ward  schools  as  centers  for  civic  education  in  the  form  of  lectures  and 
discussions;  and  has  undoubtedly  contributed  materially  to  the  develop- 
ment of  an  enlightened  and  militant  citizenship.  Through  the  efforts  of 
Henry  Smith,  an  able  and  high-minded  alderman,  who  has  served  his 
ward  for  more  than  half  a  lifetime,  a  law  was  passed  by  the  last  legislature 
authorizing  the  election  of  a  Milwaukee  Charter  Commission,  to  frame 
a  modem  charter.  The  unfortunate  action  of  the  mayor  and  common 
council  in  refusing  to  vote  the  necessary  funds  has  seriously  crippled  the 
work,  and  the  probable  result  is  not  yet  known.  This  illustrates  what  can 
be  done  in  an  unpromising  city  by  a  few  militant  individuals,  and  indicates 
very  plainly  what  could  be  accomplished  with  the  support  of  large  bodies 
of  thoroughly  equipped  and  earnest  citizens. 

Of  course  a  great  deal  of  the  local  work  in  our  cities  is  due  to  the  influ- 
ence of  this  body  and  our  record  in  the  National  Municipal  League,  since 
we  first  met  in  Philadelphia  in  1894,  is  certainly  most 
The  National      encouraging.    If  our  constructive  work  has  not  yet  been 
Municipal  everywhere  adopted,  and  if,  where  it  has  found  a  partial 

League  foothold,  too  much  faith  has  been  placed  in  the  results 

of  mere  legislation,  it  is  simply  because  we  have  not 
been  enabled  to  carry  forward  the  already  great  educational  crusade  more 
widely  and  powerfully.  Constructive  work  is  a  necessity,  but  a  public 
capable  of  appreciating  and  demanding  its  application  is  a  far  greater 
necessity  which  can  only  be  supplied  by  educational  methods.  In  a  city 
in  which  the  best  civil  service  law  is  in  force,  a  bad  mayor,  frequently  re- 
elected, may  seriously  impair  the  efficacy  of  the  law,  by  his  appointment 
of  the  members  of  the  commission  charged  with  its  enforcement,  and  the 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


best  charter  in  the  world  can  be  disregarded  by  an  ignorant  or  venal  board 
of  aldermen  controlled  by  vicious  private  interests.  Such  a  mayor  and 
such  aldermen  are,  in  the  last  analysis,  the  result  of  a  citizenship  far  from 
being  either  ideal  or  militant.  The  fundamental  basis  of  adequate  reform 
is  therefore  to  be  found  primarily  in  education,  and  education  alone. 

It  was  the  promulgation  of  the  so-called  "ideas  of  the  i8th  Century," 
through  the  writings  of  Voltaire,  Diderot,  and  Rousseau,  which  finally 
precipitated  the  French  Revolution,  and  the  publication  of  Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin  was  largely  instrumental  in  creating  the  public  opinion  which  freed 
the  southern  slaves.  In  the  city  of  Milwaukee  it  would  be  difficult,  and 
perhaps  impossible,  to  secure  $300.00  a  month  from  our  average  business 
men  for  the  production  of  educational  literature,  which  ought  to  be  dis- 
tributed in  several  languages  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  pamphlets, 
to  create  the  citizenship  upon  which  the  future  of  that  city  depends;  while 
the  socialist  leader,  Victor  Berger,  tells  me  that  money  is  so  freely  given 
from  the  pockets  of  the  poor  that  $1200.00  is  sometimes  expended  weekly 
by  his  party  in  printing  and  circulating  literature,  the  purpose  of  which, 
of  course,  is  more  or  less  radical  revolution. 

The  socialist  vote  in  Milwaukee  a  few  years  ago  was  counted  in  hun- 
dreds, but  bad  city  government  and  this  party's  admirable  system  of 
education  has  swelled  that  vote  to  18,000!  And  I  am  happy  to  be  able 
to  say  that  socialist  public  officials  are  men  of  high  character,  and  can  be 
uniformly  depended  upon  in  pushing  good  measures,  whatever  we  may 
think  of  the  cure  they  propose  for  admitted  evils. 

A  writer  in  the  October  Atlantic  says :  ' '  What  our  colleges  are  asked 
is  to  turn  out  young  men  who  can  start  out  to  earn  money  as  soon  as 
possible.  *  *  *  demand  something  'practical'  *  *  *  and  we  trans- 
late the  word  in  the  universal  term  of  dollars  and  cents.  President  Roose- 
velt has  recently  said:  'That  life  is  worse  than  wasted  which  is  spent 
in  piling,  heap  upon  heap,  those  things  which  minister  merely  to  the  pleas- 
ure of  the  body,  and  to  the  power  that  rests  only  on  wealth.' 

"I  will  go  further  and  say  that  the  ultimate  and  complete  salvation  of 
our  city,  and  state,  and  national  government,  presupposes  a  revolution  in 
our  ideals  of  life  and  education  based  upon  higher  con- 
The  New  Edu-  ceptions  of  personal  quality  and  civic  duty  which 
cation  League     shall  free  us  from  the  grasp  of  a  paralyzing  philistinism." 

An  organization  in  Milwaukee  known  as  ' '  The  New  Na- 
tional Education  League, ' '  has  secured  the  introduction  of  abill  providing  for 
a  national  department  of  education  with  a  representative  in  the  Cabinet. 
It  also  seeks  the  establishment  of  an  experimental  school  based  partly 
on  the  ideas  of  Pestalozzi  and  Horace  Mann,  and  the  system  employed  in 
many  German  schools,  and  in  the  German-English  Academy  of  Milwaukee 
from  which  students  are  said  to  be  graduated  at  a  comparatively  early 
age,  with  a  training  equivalent  to  that  of  the  average  high  school,  but  more 
specifically  devoted  to  the  development  of  character.  The  idea  is  to  bring 
what  is  approximately  the  "higher  education,"  vitalized  by  ideal  and 


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ethical  conceptions,  within  the  reach  of  that  vast  multitude  of  scholars 
which  never  gets  beyond  the  grade  school,  and  thus  powerfully  augment 
and  elevate  what  may  be  called  the  educated  pubUc.  An  extract  from 
one  of  the  League's  circulars  reads  as  follows:  "As  we  look  upon  the 
young  graduate  from  either  our  public  or  our  private  schools,  are  we  satis- 
fied with  the  result?  Where  is  the  eager  idealism,  the  steady,  manly, 
womanly  purpose,  the  simplicity,  the  efficiency,  the  high  sense  of  respon- 
sibility, the  dawning  social  consciousness  which  should  characterize  the 
product  of  the  schools  of  a  democracy?" 

Well  founded  or  otherwise  the  purpose  of  the  League  is  suggestive. 
What  we  need  are  citizens  who  are  equipped  with  the  requisite  knowledge, 
and  moved  by  the  right  ideals;  who  are  particular  about  and  familiar  with 
the  qualifications  and  service  of  their  municipal  servants;  citizens  who  are 
themselves  ready  to  enter  the  City's  official  service  on  a  basis  of  civic  pride 
and  honor;  citizens,  whether  rich  or  poor,  who  will  serve  without  compen- 
sation for  the  sake  of  the  "Common  Good"  like  the  members  of  the  London 
County  Council,  and  the  aldermen  of  nearly  every  European  city;  Citizens 
who  are  well  described  by  Charles  Edward  Russell  in  "  Forward,  Citizens, 
to  the  Firing  Line"  in  Everybody's  for  November,  which  every  municipal 
reformer  has  undoubtedly  read. 

Permanent  free  government  without  the  well  equipped  and  devoted 
citizen  is  as  unthinkable  and  as  impossible  as  stability  in  a  mighty  struc- 
ture without  a  sound  foundation,  and  unless  such  a  citizen  is  forthcoming 
the  American  political  edifice  will  finally  be  rent  asunder.  The  place  to 
create  the  high-spirited,  fully  equipped  militant  citizen  is  in  the  public 
schools  by  appropriate  instruction. 

'<  The  educationof  a  European  monarch  is  marvelouslythorough  and  many 
sided.  He  is  drilled  by  the  best  instructors,  and  fully  equipped,  ethically, 
ideally,  and  politically  for  the  general  and  special  work 
The  Education  °^  government.  It  is  only  in  the  Republic  that  the 
^£  jj^^  monarch  gets  his  chance  education,  in  large  part,  from 

the  ward  politician,  the  party  papers,  the  political  gang 
Sovereign  ^nd  in^the  streets  and  slums.    The  inference  is  obvi- 

ous, and  the  most  valuable  preliminary  work  to  which 
this  or  any  other  organizatio  n  can  devote  itself,  is  the  ethical  and  politi- 
cal education  of  the  citizen — the  democratic  monarch.  To  ensure  that 
education  the  resolute  effort  should  be  made  to  induce  the  school  authori- 
ties of  every  city  not  only  to  make  the  ward  schools  civic  centers  for  the 
purpose  of  meetings  and  lectures,  but  to  afford  daily  instruction  on  the 
nature  and  duties  of  municipal  citizenship,  and  the  character  of  official  and 
political  machinery  and  action,  in  the  light  of  the  best  experience  and  the 
highest  ideals.  When  that  is  done  any  worthy  cause  will  find  a  militant 
citizenship  ready  to  enter  the  lists  in  its  support,  and  the  reform  not  only 
of  our  city  governments,  but  of  the  ideals  of  life  and  business  will  soon  be- 
come an  established  fact  in  the  most  beneficent  and  peaceful  revolution  of 
history.    Most  of  the  bitterness  and  many  of  the  unjust  inequalities  of 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


life  will  gradually  be  removed,  and  added  splendor  will  be  given  to  the 
material  greatness  of  the  foremost  government  of  the  world.  [Applause.] 

The  President:  The  next  speaker  will  be  Mr.  Camillus  G.  Kidder, 
of  Orange,  New  Jersey,  Chairman  Orange  Board  of  Excise. 

Mr.  Kidder:  I  would  like  to  remind  those  of  my  predecessors  who  have 
been  telling  of  remarkable  achievements  and  of  their  mistakes,  of  the 
remark  of  Mr.  Phelps,  our  minister  to  England  some  time  ago,  that  "he 
who  makes  no  mistake  makes  nothing." 

My  little  sandwich,  sir,  to  this  picnic  relates  to  a  very  small  happening 
in  a  small  town  with  regard  to  the  choice  of  good  men  for  a  trifling  office, 
but  it  was  a  movement  carried  out  a  few  weeks  ago  with  marked  success, 
and  it  seems  to  me  to  illustrate  in  a  small  way  the  points  made  in  Mr. 
Binkerd's  paper,  and,  judging  larger  things  by  small  things,  it  may  be 
worth  your  while  to  hear  it. 

Orange  is  a  small  town  of  twenty-eight  thousand  people  and  part  of 
three  other  boroughs  or  cities  which  join  one  another  and  aggregate  alto- 
gether about  sixty  thousand.  But  unfortunately  they 
Experience  of  have  separate  city  governments.  The  population  of 
Orange,  N.  J.  Orange  is  rather  curiously  composite.  There  are  seven 
thousand  five  hundred  Italians,  two  thousand  free  bom 
citizens  of  African  descent  and  there  are  perhaps  one  thousand  Polacks 
and  Hungarians  who  are  interested  in  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  There 
is  a  large  minority  of  residents  who  do  business  in  New  York.  It  is 
about  thirteen  miles  out,  and  is  situated  with  regard  to  New  York  very 
much  as  Chestnut  Hill  and  Germantown  are  to  Philadelphia.  Now  the 
men  of  New  York  are  called  "roosters"  by  the  natives.  A  rooster  is 
the  emblem  of  the  Democratic  party  in  Ohio,  but  in  New  Jersey  it  is  very 
hard  to  make  him  crow.  The  reason  they  are  called  roosters  is  because 
they  scratch  grave]  in  New  York  and  come  home  to  roost  at  night.  It  is 
very  hard  to  arouse  in  these  men  a  feeling  of  true  civic  interest.  That  is  the 
reason  why  our  little  movements  of  reform  in  that  particular  borough  have 
a  certain  lively  interest. 

Now  we  have  had  for  a  number  of  years  a  school  board  consisting  of 
fifteen  men  appointed  three  from  each  of  five  wards.  That  school  board 
the  last  two  years  got  into  trouble  and  fell  into  factional  disputes.  There 
was  a  good  superintendent  of  schools  and  the  main  object  of  the  large 
minority  of  the  board  seemed  to  make  things  unpleasant  for  the  super- 
intendent, and  there  was  a  dispute  with  a  principal.  He  was  a  good 
teacher,  I  believe,  but  wanted  the  place  of  superintendent.  For  that 
reason,  after  much  rumpus,  which  got  into  newspapers, 
A  School  he  was  discharged.    Then  the  parents  of  the  children 

Fight  came  to  the  school  board  and  rather  bulldozed  them,  as 

the  boys  say.  The  result  was,  that  although  his  place 
had  been  filled  they  chose  him  again  as  principal  in  deference  to  political 
clamour,  and  there  were  nineteen  principals  for  eighteen  places.  Since  these 


io8 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


little  suburban  towns  are  always  hard  up  for  money  it  was  rather  an  em- 
barrassment. The  general  opinion  of  the  public  was  that  the  board  was 
long  of  principals  and  shy  of  sense.  The  legislature  a  year  ago  passed  an 
act  authorizing  a  town  of  the  second  class  which  would  accept  the  act  to 
elect  nine  for  the  school  board  by  a  general  ticket  from  the  whole  town  to 
replace  these  boards  of  fifteen,  chosen  each  from  a  ward. 

Well,  in  a  lucid  interval  our  people  in  Orange  accepted  that  act.  This 
fall  came  up  the  question — ^unfortunately  our  town  elections  are  held  at 
the  same  time  as  the  national  and  state — whether  we  could  put  in  a  new 
board  of  nine  good  men  who  would  run  the  schools  on  a  non-partisan  basis 
and  put  us  on  the  level  of  schools  of  the  surrounding  towns,  which  as  things 
go  are  usually  good.  We  got  up  a  scratch  committee  that  was  called 
together  by  Dr.  Bayliss,  a  Ph.D.,  of  Columbia,  who  had  been  some  years 
ago  chairman  of  the  school  board.  He  called  together  about  eighteen 
men,  most  of  whom  had  served  on  the  school  board  in  former  years,  and 
his  idea  was  to  get  up  a  ticket  and  get  both  political  parties  to  accept  it. 
It  was  decided  on  early  in  the  conference  that  the  issue  was  not  large 
enough  to  form  an  independent  citizens'  party  on  the  school  board  issue, 
that  even  if  we  carried  it,  it  would  exhaust  the  enthusiasm  of  the  roosters 
for  one  year,  and  we  might  want  to  make  a  bigger  issue.  So  we  invited 
to  the  conference  the  leaders  of  both  parties.  We  got  the  attention  of  the 
Republicans  very  cordially.  They  came.  The  chairman  of  the  city  com- 
mittee and  the  candidate  for  mayor  on  the  Republican  ticket  went  so  far 
as  to  say  he  was  willing  to  vote  for  nine  Democrats,  a  most  incendiary 
proposition  in  that  district,  if  they  were  good  men  and  would  run  the 
schools  in  a  nonpartisan  way.  The  best  of  the  Democratic  leaders  ap- 
proved the  thing  in  principle,  but  they  could  not  be  sure  that  it  would 
work  with  the  rank  and  file  of  the  party. 

We  held  various  conferences  and  we  decided  in  the  first  place,  that  we 
would  not  name  as  candidates  any  of  the  former  board.  There  were 
good  men  on  the  old  board  who  deserved  reSlection,  but  we  saved  a  good 
deal  of  friction  by  not  dividing  the  board  off  into  sheep  and  goats  and  the 
good  men  realized  that  they  were  sacrificing  themselves  for  the  good  of 
the  community,  and  we  promised  them  our  support  in  a  future  campaign. 
Now  it  takes  fifty  men  under  the  new  primary  law  to  nominate,  and  it 
we  had  not  got  the  adhesion  of  the  Republican  party  I  think  it  very  prob- 
able we  would  have  had  the  fifty  men  as  a  matter  of  personal  friendship, 
and  those  fifty  men  would  be  the  only  ones  who  would  vote  the  independ- 
ent ticket.  Some  of  the  Republican  leaders  held  a  meeting  about  this 
"self-appointed  committee,"  "shall  the  people  rule?"  "are  you  going  to 
accept  this  ticket  made  up  from  the  highways  and  byways?"  but  finally 
we  chose  four  Republicans  and  four  Democrats,  good  men  and  true,  and  one 
man  who  was  absolutely  non-partisan.  He  is,  by  the  way,  a  classmate  of 
Secretary  Taft. 

Well,  in  the  little  campaign  we  said  not  a  word  reflecting  upon  the  former 
board.    It  was  all  constructive.    "Here  is  a  chance  to  get  these  fine  men. 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


No  criticism  on  the  former  board,  but  all  pushing  forward  these  new  men. " 
A  few  of  us  chipped  in  a  few  dollars,  I  think  five  dollars  was  the  maximum, 
and  raised  about  one  hundred  dollars,  with  which  we  got  out  a  circular 
describing  the  virtues  of  these  men  and  providing  pasters.  Under  the 
Jersey  ballot  law  you  have  pasters  and  you  have  the  ticket — you  can  get 
hold  of  the  ticket  weeks  before  hand.  That  was  all  that  was  done,  to 
send  out  this  circular  and  pasters. 

Now,  it  is  very  curious  the  way  that  resulted.  The  county  went  all 
sorts  of  ways.  It  went  twenty  thousand  for  Taft;  it  went  six  hundred 
against  Mr.  Colby,  "the  new  idea"  man,  a  very  excellent  man;  it  went 
fifty-five  hundred  for  the  Democratic  sheriff;  in  the  town  of  Orange  it 
went  twenty-seven  for  the  Democratic  mayor,  a  town  normally  about 
two  hundred  Democratic  majority;  but  that  is  disputed,  and  a  recount  is 
now  going  on  and  perhaps  the  Republican  will  get  in. 

The  Democrats,  I  should  say,  refused  to  accept  this  scratched  ticket, 
but  put  on  three  of  our  four  Democrats  on  their  own  ticket  and  then  nom- 
inated a  lot  of  the  most  troublesome  of  the  former  board  who  had  wanted 
strongly  to  have  that  high  position.  Of  course  the  three  Democrats  who 
were  on  the  Republican  ticket  and  on  the  Democratic  ticket  went  in  prac- 
tically unanimously,  one  exception  being  a  small  vote  for  the  Socialist 
and  Prohibitionist.  The  man  with  the  smallest  majority  on  our  ticket  had 
nine  hundred  and  nine  majority  in  that  little  town,  the  highest  man  some- 
thing over  one  thousand.  Think  what  that  meant.  We  were  twenty-eight 
thousand  people,  a  few  over  five  thousand  votes,  a  town  normally  Dem- 
ocratic, electing  a  Democratic  mayor.  At  least  four  hundred  and  fifty- 
five  Democrats  must  have  scratched  the  ticket  on  this  little  matter  to  vote 
this  way.  That  means  that  we  changed  ten  per  cent  of  the  votes.  It 
seems  to  me  that  is  instructive. 

I  thank  you,  gentlemen,  for  your  attention.  [Applause.] 

The  President:  Ladies  and  Gerttlemen:  The  remaining  speaker  of  the 
list,  who  is  Mr.  Dwight  F.  Davis,  of  St.  Louis,  a  member  of  the  city  council, 
is,  I  am  told,  detained  in  St.  Louis  by  the  necessity  for  an  exhibition  of 
militant  political  work  for  a  better  governed  city — opportunity  for  such 
work  having  arisen  there  as  it  has  arisen  previously.  The  program  says 
that  there  will  be  an  opportunity  afforded  for  further  discussion. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  We  are  favored  with  the  presence  of  two  gentle- 
men connected  with  the  German  Government  who  have  attended  the 
meetings  of  the  League  .indicating  their  sympathy  and  interest  in  the  prob- 
lems which  are  under  discussion.  Dr.  Bomke  and  Dr.  Wiesner  are  come 
to  us  [Applause]  and  we  shall  be  pleased  to  hear  from  them.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

Dr.  jur  Wiesner,  Regierungsassessor:  Gentlemen:  It  is  very  kind  of 
you  and  I  thank  you  very  much  for  this  opportunity  to  attend  your  con- 
gress. We  appreciate  all  that  we  have  heard  greatly  and  thank  you  for 
the  opportunity.  [Applause.] 


no 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


Dr.  JUR  BoMKE,  Regierungsassessor :  I  thank  you  very  much,  I  am  sorry 
I  cannot  take  part  in  this  conference.  It  is  very  interesting  to  hear  all  of 
this,  especially  after  having  studied  the  English  government.  [Applause.] 

The  President:  Mr.  Binkerd  will  now  be  given  the  floor  for  the  laudable 
purpose  indicated  in  the  previous  remarks  of  the  chair. 

Mr.  Binkerd:  In  the  first  place  I  do  not  wish  my  position  to  be  mis- 
understood or  the  remarks  I  made  about  the  situation  in  Philadelphia  and 
,  Cincinnati  to  indicate  a  belief  in  my  mind  that  these 
Philadelphia  movements  were  unavailing.  On  the  contrary  they 
and  Cincixmati  have  accomplished  results,  and  I  am  sure  that  had  I 
been  in  Mr.  Pendleton's  place  in  Cincinnati  I  should 
most  certainly  have  done  exactly  what  he  did  in  that  situation. 

But  the  thing  which  I  am  trying  to  get  at  is,  how  are  you  going  perma- 
nently to  provide  for  the  necessities  of  an  increasingly  intelligent  electorate  ? 
How  first  of  all  are  you  going  to  stimulate  that  intelligence,  how  are  you 
going  to  increase  the  amount  of  political  independence,  how  are  you  going 
to  provide  for  its  permanent  instruction  and  guidance  at  the  necessary 
time?  I  have  argued  that  a  city  party  of  itself  cannot  permanently  ful- 
fill this  fimction  nor  do  I  believe  after  all  we  have  heard  that  it  can  do  so. 
The  party  organization,  a  committee  subject  to  the  pulling  and  hauling 
of  twenty-five  or  fifty  distinct  organizations,  is  not  in  the  position  to  pur- 
sue the  quiet  accurate  political  information,  let  it  get  whom  it  will,  that  a 
small  executive  committee  like  that  of  a  municipal  voters  league,  is  in 
a  position  to  go  for  and  get.  The  expense  of  maintaining  the  party  organ- 
ization is  a  serious  item.  We  cannot  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  the 
thing  that  holds  parties  together  today  is  a  mucilage,  and  that  mucilage 
is  patronage  and  honor  in  some  form  or  other.  That  is,  it  may  be  true 
that  the  Socialistic  party  is  held  together  today  by  adherents  to  principle, 
but  I  think  those  who  have  observed  political  progress  will  agree  with  me 
that  in  any  place  where  the  Socialistic  party  looks  like  a  victor  it  will  then 
find  its  ranks  invaded  by  political  hangers-on  who  may  turn  the  election 
and  whose  adherence  will  be  gained  solely  by  the  desire  for  office  or 
patronage. 

We  want  an  agency  by  which  the  citizens  can  be  informed  at  every 
election  as  to  what  is  necessary  to  be  done.  Mr.  Butler  has  rather  indi- 
cated that  it  is  a  low  degree  of  intelligence  on  the  part  of  the  elector  which 
makes  this  necessary.  I  don't  think  so.  It  is  an  unprovided  necessary 
function.  We  have  got  to  provide  it  by  voluntary  means.  You  and  I 
cannot  go  and  examine  in  detail  the  administration  of  the  city.  You  and 
I  cannot  as  private  citizens  go  to  everj'  meeting  of  the  board  of  aldermen 
and  board  of  coimcilmen  or  call  it  what  you  will.  We  know  the  primary 
law.  We  know  that  parties  will  not  tell  the  truth  about  their  candidates. 
Who  will? 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


III 


My  answer  is  that  the  simplest  form  of  organization  is  that  which  is 
commonly  designated  as  the  municipal  voters  league,  which  is  on  the 
principle  that  a  small  executive  committee  of  men  of  unquestionable 
integrity,  standing  and  working  through  men  who  are  experts  in  this  line 
of  work,  are  in  the  best  position  to  serve  as  a  source  of  accurate  information 
at  the  right  time  to  the  voters  of  each  city.  The  situation  may  arise  when 
a  committee  of  one  hundred  ought  to  be  formed;  when 
Independent  an  independent  nomination  may  do  good.  Well  and 
Nominations  good.  The  accurate  information  given  to  you  by  this 
association  at  this  particular  time  shows  the  necessity. 

Let  the  work  be  done.  Let  the  committee  of  one  hundred,  having 
accomplished  its  purpose,  resolve  back  into  private  citizens  again.  The 
same  men  who  have  combined  for  a  purpose  regardless  of  party  can  com- 
bine again  if  it  is  necessary.  Meanwhile  we  have  no  form  of  organization 
to  keep  up.  We  have  no  possible  avenues  of  wasting  our  money.  We 
are  calling  for  no  heroic  or  unnecessary  waste  of  time  or  labor.  That  in 
short  is  the  whole  proposition  which  I  am  arguing.  So  much  has  been 
said  that  I  will  not  take  any  further  of  your  time  by  saying  anything  more, 
although  there  are  many  other  things  I  would  like  to  say.  [Applause.] 

The  President:  Mr.  Binkerd  has  in  one  respect  differed  entirely  from 
all  previous  speakers.  He  has  paid  some  attention  to  the  time  limit.  I 
am  very  sorry  to  perceive  the  growing  tendency  in  this  organization  of  a 
taint  toward  legality,  that  is  to  say  of  paying  some  heed  to  what  is  the 
written  law  as  contained  in  the  program.  That  I  regard  as  entirely 
unworthy  of  reformers,  therefore  I  will  retract  what  I  said  a  little  while 
ago  that  there  will  be  no  opportunity  for  further  discussion,  and,  subject  to 
the  congressional  five  minutes  rule,  I  shall  be  very  happy  to  hear  from 
any  gentleman — and  still  more  happy  to  hear  from  any  lady  present,  on 
this  interesting  subj  ect .    [ App  lause.  ] 

Prof.  A.  R.  Hatton:  I  have  no  desire  to  continue  this  matter  longer 
than  is  absolutely  necessary,  but  having  for  some  years  observed  the  work- 
ing of  these  so-called  militant  political  organizations,  both  in  Chicago 
and,  since  going  to  Cleveland  having  been  connected  with  the  active  mili- 
tant organization  there,  founded  by  Harry  A.  Garfield  some  years  ago, 
known  as  the  Municipal  Association,  I  have  some  opinions  of  that  par- 
ticular question.  And  just  let  me  point  out  some  of  the  diSiculties  of  the 
municipal  voters  league  plan,  although  I  want  to  say  it  is  a  plan  with 
which  I  am  most  in  accord. 

I  think  it  is  agreed  it  must  be  confined  to  a  small  committee,  that  a  large 
working  party  is  not  practical.    A  small  committee. 
Disadvantages    however,  has  some  disadvantages.    After  a  while  peo- 
of  the  Voters      pie  become  tired  of  being  told  by  a  certain  group  of 
League  Plan  J^^*  exactly  what  they  ought  to  do  and  occasion- 

ally want  to  know  who  these  three  tailors  of  Tooley 
street  are.    Another  difficulty  which  arises  with  a  small  committee  in  the 


112 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


municipal  voters'  league  plan  is  in  general  that  after  it  has  been  continued 
over  a  long  term  of  years  it  usually  comes  about  that  you  have  so  many 
interests  down  on  you  in  a  locality  that  your  influence  has  somewhat 
waned,  as  every  time  you  make  a  recommendation,  especially  when  you 
make  a  commendation  of  a  man,  you  create  enmity  on  the  part  of  some 
particular  interest,  so  that  the  older  the  organization  becomes  the  less  its 
influence  becomes. 

It  does  seem  to  me  that  it  is  necessary  to  democratize  these  institutions 
somewhat  more  than  has  been  done.  Let  me  indicate  the  plan  we  are 
adopting  in  Cleveland.  Without  getting  rid  of  the  close  corporation 
executive  committee  we  are  endeavoring  to  bring  the  movement  some- 
what closer  to  the  people  by  organizing  what  we  have  been  pleased  to 
term  an  auxiliary  committee,  which  is  entirely  under  the  control  of  the 
executive  committee,  and  can  do  nothing  without  the  executive  committee, 
but  which  acts  as  our  publicity  agent  in  the  various  localities.  In  the 
recent  election  we  organized  a  number  of  the  wards  to  this  extent,  that 
we  placed  men  at  the  polls  distributing  our  tickets  or  sample  ballots  marked 
with  our  particular  recommendations  of  a  man  or  men  and  upon  whom 
the  members  of  the  auxiliary  committee  could  absolutely  depend  to  say 
why  we  were  against  particular  principles. 

I  want  to  disagree  to  a  great  extent  with  the  recommendations  that  it 
is  necessary  for  these  organizations  to  have  a  program.  I  am  inclined 
to  think  that  such  organizations  cannot  have  a  definite  program  and  for 
this  reason:  my  experience,  as  I  have  watched  these  organizations  has 
been  this,  that  the  moment  they  get  beyond  the  point  they  are  recommend- 
ing or  condemning  a  man  on  account  of  his  honesty  or  dishonesty  they  have 
gone  to  a  point  beyond  which  the  people  will  not  go.  The  ordinary  voter 
is  willing  to  be  told  that  he  should  not  vote  for  a  man  because  he  is  dis- 
honest, but  these  organizations  have  not  shown  particular  strength  when 
it  comes  to  the  matter  of  securing  efficiency.  That  I  think  has  been  dis- 
tinctly shown  by  the  Municipal  Voters  League  of  Chicago. 

Another  danger  of  the  program  plan  is  this,  that  the  moment  you  at- 
tempt to  adopt  a  program  you  attempt  to  decide  questions  of  policy  and 

the  moment  you  attempt  to  decide  a  question  of  policy 
The  Program  you  decide  your  electorate.  Therefore  the  only  pro- 
pian  gram  so  far  as  I  can  see  that  has  been  permanently 

successful  in  these  organizations  has  been  practically 
the  program  of  honesty — to  a  much  greater  degree  than  a  program  of 
efficiency.  The  program  of  efficiency  has  to  be  carried  out  so  far  as  I  can 
see  by  some  campaign  of  education.  Of  course  these  recommendatory 
committees  are  educative  in  a  sense,  and  through  discussions  some 
organizations  are  doing  distinctly  good  service,  and  I  must  say  I  don't  see 
why  we  should  not  have  a  further  combination  of  education  with  the 
municipal  league  voters  plan. 

I  have  been  inclined  to  think  that  these  leagues  can  go  thus  far — they 
can  wipe  out  dishonesty.    As  one  of  the  most  militant  Chicago  reformers 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


"3 


said  to  me,  we  had  gotten  a  council  that  would  not  steal,  but  not  one  that 
could  not  be  stolen  from,  and  that  is  to  a  certain  extent  true  of  the  work 
of  these  organizations.  Beyond  that  point  it  seems  to  me  that  the  next 
step  is  the  educative  policies  which  have  been  so  well  emphasized  by  one 
of  the  previous  speakers  in  the  direction  of  getting  both  sides  of  every 
question  before  the  voters.  After  all,  that  is  what  we  ought  to  put  up  to 
the  intelligent  voters.  We  ought  to  ask  the  voter  to  do  something,  and 
it  seems  to  me  we  are  weakening  our  civic  life  by  taking  off  the  voter's 
mind  the  necessity  of  deciding  almost  every  question  which  comes  up 
beyond  the  point  of  simply  telling  who  is  honest  and  who  is  dishonest,  and 
so  far  as  we  can  who  is  efficient  and  who  is  inefficient. 

Hon.  Merwin  K.  Hart,  Utica,  N.  Y.:  I  almost  hesitate  to  say  much  of 
anything  here,  because  my  business  is  politics.  I  am  putting  all  my  time 
into  it.  I  am  not  getting  my  living  out  of  it,  and  I  expect  the  situation 
will  continue. 

I  want  to  say  further  that  it  was  at  a  session  and  conference  of  the 
National  Municipal  League  at  Atlantic  City  two  years  ago  that  I  made  up 
my  mind  to  go  into  politics.  I  want  to  say  that  I  am  very  much  impressed 
with  the  clearness  of  all  the  addresses  which  have  been  made  this  morning 
and  especially  with  Mr.  Binkerd's  presentation.  It  does  seem  to  me  that 
all  that  has  been  said  has  been  said  as  from  the  point  of  men  who  were 
working  from  the  outside  trying  to  reform  the  fellows  on  the  inside.  1 
want  to  admit  that  a  good  many  of  us  on  the  inside  need  reforming,  but 
I  also  want  to  point  out  that  there  are  some  of  us  on  the  inside,  as  you  of 
course  know,  who  are  trying  to  reform  from  the  inside,  and  that  very  con- 
siderable can  be  done  from  the  inside. 

My  state  is  New  York,  and  I  happen  to  have  been  in  the  legislature  for 
two  or  three  terms  and  to  have  taken  a  distinct  interest  in  two  or  three 
important  subjects  which  have  been  up,  and  in  one  which  I  believe  is  going 
to  be  the  issue  in  the  State  of  New  York  this  coming  year.  I  am  surprised, 
Mr.  President,  that  that  has  not  been  referred  to  at  this  meeting  in  a  more 
detailed  way  than  it  has  been  today.   It  is  the  subject  of  direct  nominations. 

I  want  to  take  for  a  specific  case,  because  my  time  is 
Direct  limited,  the  city  in  which  I  live,  the  city  of  Utica.    I  want 

Nominations       to  say  that  aside  from  all  the  known  politicians  there 

most  of  the  people  in  the  city  are  either  of  the  one  party  or 
the  other.  I  want  to  point  further  that  the  issues  in  that  city  are  decided 
not  at  the  polls  as  is  generally  thought  by  a  large  number  of  people,  but 
at  the  party  primary.  I  want  to  say  that  the  New  York  primary  law 
today  is  such  that  half  the  voters  are  disinfranchised,  but  I  want  also  to 
say  that  I  believe  it  is  a  thing  of  the  utmost  importance  that  the  primary 
law  be  changed  so  that  candidates  for  office  will  be  nominated  not  by  del- 
egates but  directly  by  vote  of  the  people.  I  was  in  a  primary  fight  this 
last  summer  which  is  said  to  have  been  the  fiercest  primary  contest  which 
had  taken  place  in  central  New  York  in  twenty  years.    A  number  of  us 


114 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


were  interested  in  it  and  we  rode  that  county,  as  the  saying  is,  from  one  end 
to  the  other  for  four  months.  We  did  our  best  to  bring  out  the  vote.  We 
have  an  enrollment  act,  and  I  believe  eighty  to  ninety  per  cent  of  the  Repub- 
lican vote,  the  party  to  which  I  happen  to  belong,  is  enrolled  and  may  vote 
at  the  primary,  and  I  point  out  to  you  that  less  than  forty  per  cent  of  that 
enrolled  vote  came  out  and  voted  at  the  primaries.  The  reason  was 
because  those  men  were  voting  not  for  the  men  they  wanted  to  see  candi- 
dates for  office,  but  they  were  voting  to  strengthen  the  arms  of  delegates 
owned  by  a  political  machine  who  when  the  time  came  would  nominate 
men  who  would  suit  their  own  private  interests.  And  I  want  to  say  that 
forty  per  cent  is  as  high  a  percentage  of  a  party  vote  as  has  ever  been 
brought  out,  as  high  a  per  cent  as  under  the  delegate-in-convention  sys- 
tem has  ever  brought  out. 

I  want  to  quote  some  figures  from  Crawford  county,  Pennsylvania. 
They  have  had  direct  primaries  there  for  forty  years.  The  lowest  vote 
they  have  ever  had  was  forty-four  per  cent  of  the  Republican  vote  in  a 
contested  primary.  The  next  lowest  was  fifty-two  per  cent,  and  the  vote 
for  thirty-one  years  was  seventy-four  per  cent.  The  last  sixteen  years 
was  eighty-four  per  cent  and  the  last  fifteen  years  it  was  sixty-one  per 
cent.  Comparison  was  offered  by  the  city  election  in  the  city  of  Meade- 
ville  in  igox.^the  Republican  party  having  direct  nominations,  the  Demo- 
cratic party  the  old  delegates-in-convention  system.  The  Democratic 
party  polled  seventeen  per  cent  of  the  vote  that  was  cast  at  the  preceding 
election,  whereas  the  Republican  party  under  direct  nomination  polled 
eighty-two  per  cent  of  the  entire  Republican  vote,  and  I  say  to  you  that 
under  the  direct  nomination  system  which  now  is  in  existence  in  nineteen 
states  in  this  country  you  have  a  fuller  expression  of  party  opinion;  you 
have  far  less  dissatisfaction  after  the  primary  has  been  held,  and  you  force 
the  voters  to  take  that  same  interest  in  their  party  primary  when  the  nom- 
inations are  made  and  the  policy  is  instituted,  the  same  interest  they  now 
take  in  the  election.  I  just  want  to  emphasize  this  point  of  direct  nomi- 
nation, because  the  eyes  of  the  country  will  be  on  the  State  of  New  York 
this  winter,  because  that  issue  is  going  to  be  fought  out  under  the  gov- 
ernorship of  Charles  E.  Hughes,  who  has  just  been  reelected,  and  it  is  going 
to  be  a  bloody  fight  and  it  is  going  to  be  a  fight  to  the  finish  and  I  think 
that  there  is  not  a  member  of  the  National  Municipal  League  in  this  room 
who  will  not  agree  that  its  object  will  have  been  furthered  when  in  New 
York  State  we  have  direct  nominations  on  the  part  of  the  members  of  each 
political  party  in  that  state. 

I  am  sorry  that  I  have  taken  so  much  time,  but  that  is  the  great  issue 
with  us,  and  I  expect  that  it  is  a  permanent  issue.  I  know  it  is  a  prominent 
issue  in  many  parts  of  the  country.  I  believe  fully  in  the  principles  of  the 
League,  and  I  believe  too  that  they  are  not  inconsistent  with  the  principle 
of  a  great  many  men  in  both  of  the  great  political  parties  in  this  country. 
I  believe  further  in  non-partisanship  when  it  comes  to  a  question  of  right 
or  wrong,  but  I  am  a  party  man;  I  stand  for  party  principles,  fori  believe 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


there  are  party  principles,  and  I  want  to  urge  a  little  less  of  the  spirit  which 
perhaps  has  been  evidenced  here  by  some  of  the  speakers,  a  little  less  of 
the  spirit  that  there  is  no  force  in  partygovemment  as  parties  are  run  today, 
which  can  from  the  inside,  of  its  own  account,  help  in  the  general  reform- 
ation. From  within  the  party  I  say  to  the  members  of  the  League  outside 
the  party,  you  can  help  us  and  I  can  sympathize  perfectly  with  you  with- 
out the  party.  Tell  the  fellows  inside  the  party  that  they  can  help  too,  and 
that  we  are  all  working  together  toward  a  common  end. 


Mr.  Paine  :  Our  last  speaker  has  brought  out  an  interesting  point,  but 
if  we  are  going  to  widen  this  question  outside  the  question  on  the  floor  we 
branch  out  into  many  other  things,  like  the  Australian  ballot.  His  point 
is  well  taken,  but  I  think  we  must  observe  there  are  qualifications  to  it. 

It  struck  me  in  the  first  place  he  was  speaking  as  a 
Distinction  state  representative  and  not  as  a  city  man.     State  or 

Between  national  parties  have  their  place  in  state  or  national 

State  and  elections,  but  in  almost  all  the  cases  in  our  big  cities 

QHy  when  they  have  been  established  in  cities  they  have  run 

astray  so  that  in  some  cases  they  have  merited  the 
excoriation  of  Secretary  Root  in  Philadelphia  where  they  masqueraded 
in  clothes  of  Republicans  and  were  traitors  to  their  city.  In  a  case  like 
that  they  ought  to  be  stamped  out  as  Mr.  Winston  has  well  said.  1 

Direct  nominations  in  the  city  is  probably  the  next  step.  Don't  let  us 
deceive  ourselves  that  it  is  the  ultimate  step.  Today  with  bosses  control- 
ling conventions  direct  nominations  are  helpful.  They  open  the  eyes  of 
the  people  to  the  fact  that  they  don't  get  what  they  are  after.  We  have 
tried  it  in  Boston  and  have  been  helped  by  it.  Where  you  have  direct 
party  nomination  the  enrolled  members  of  the  parties  pick  out  their  can- 
didates, and  it  is  a  fight  between  major  and  minor  factions,  and  very  often 
the  faction  that  wins  is  the  bad  faction.  After  the  nominees  are  made  by 
both  parties  then  it  is  impossible  to  hitch  up  with  the  independent.  In 
old  days  under  our  boss  run  conventions  the  minority  party  was  perfectly 
willing  to  consult  with  the  independents  and  good  citizens  and  form  a 
ticket  largely  made  up  of  independents  and  wipe  off  the  face  of  the  munici- 
pal board  for  that  election  the  dominant  party. 

Direct  nominations  have  been  helpful  to  arouse  the  people  to  the  evils 
of  the  old  system.  But,  Mr.  President,  I  rather  think  that  while  we  may 
limit  our  attentions  to  some  of  these  reforms  the  people  in  some  of  the 
cities  of  this  country  are  taking  the  matter  up  and  solving  it  themselves. 
To  be  sure  last  year  at  our  convention  in  Providence  we  did  resolve  after 
a  discussion  in  favor  of  nonpartisan  city  government.  There  has  been  a 
great  boom  in  that  since  we  met  last  year.  Des  Moines  and  Cedar  Rapids 
for  instance  under  the  Iowa  law  have  already  adopted  charters  under  that 
law  and  there  is  no  designation  on  the  ballots  of  the  parties,  they  are  elim- 
inated.   We  shall  see  how  that  works  in  Iowa  by  test,  by  actual  results. 


ii6 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


That  same  system  is  being  followed  in  other  cities  and  states  are  copy- 
ing the  Des  Moines  commission  charter  and  it  will  be  tried  in  half  a  dozen 

cities.  Alameda  in  Califorina  has  it  for  instance,  and  I 
Non-Partisan  think  in  almost  all  the  cities  of  Colorado  it  is  the  law, 
City  that  they  don't  have  municipal  nominations  or  desig- 

Govenunent       nations,  and  they  tell  me  out  there  that  that  is  one  of  the 

reasons  for  their  excellent  government  and  inducive  to 
stability.  I  do  hope  that  Mr.  Hart  in  the  as.^^erably  can  realize  that  this 
is  a  great  forward  movement  and  it  may  be  the  wisest  next  step  for  state 
matters,  but  it  is  not  the  ultimate  last  step  in  city  matters,  and  it  seems 
to  me,  coming  back  to  the  point  of  our  discussion  this  morning  that  you 
might  say  an  acute  case  demands  a  civic  party  treatment,  and  I  really 
think  in  Philadelphia  we  would  have  been  with  Mr.  Winston  in  creating 
a  separate  party,  but  is  not  that  a  solution  of  the  actite  case,  and  after  we 
have  gotten  the  citizens  separated  somewhat  from  all  party  ties  we  have 
got  to  come  to  a  more  permanent  arrangement  of  the  voters'  league  and 
have  the  voters  decide  on  questions  without  reference  to  the  party  dictum. 
The  independent  party  often  becomes  a  bad  party  in  its  organization,  and 
that  is  looking  towards  the  future  also,  because  if  we  are  going  to  have  the 
commission  form  of  government  it  is  probable  the  municipal  voters  league 
will  still  find  a  reason  for  being  in  showing  the  people  how  to  pick  out  the 
good  candidates.  In  Des  Moines  ws  had  to  elect  five  commissioners. 
The  voters'  league  would  be  very  helpful  in  picking  out  the  good  or  the  bad 
points  in  the  different  candidates.  On  the  other  hand  even  there  it  seems 
to  me  we  mu-st  not  draw  any  hard  or  fast  conclusion,  because  I  do  not  be- 
lieve that  in  the  long  run  those  men  will  be  wisely  chosen  to  office  as  men. 

It  seems  to  me  we  have  got  to  in  some  way  have  a  program  of  policy 
In  Boston  where  we  have  a  good  plan,  something  like  the  National  Munici- 
pal League,  but  not  so  good  as  that,  we  are  hardly  worth  paying  the 
huge  $17,000  a  year  which  we  have  to  expend  to  keep  us  going.  There 
the  analyses  proved  that  the  dishonest  men  stood  for  measures  for  the  good 
of  the  people,  but  the  honest  man  was  not  worth  his  salt  as  a  member  of 

any  city  council.  He  knew  nothing  about  what  was 
Boston  going  on  in  other  ways.    He  knew  nothing  about  what 

our  cities  were  doing  to  help  the  situation,  and  therefore 
it  was  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  in  spite  of  the  recommendation  of  the 
Good  Government  Association  the  people  voted  for  the  crook  who  stood 
for  things  they  wanted  done  rather  than  the  honest  man  who  was  merely 
honest  and  knew  nothing  about  civic  progress.  You  must  have  in  addition 
to  mere  honesty  something  which  stands  for  the  good  of  the  whole  com- 
munity. [Applause.] 

Mr.  F.  R.  Boocock,  New  York:  Mr.  Chairman:  I  hesitate  somewhat  to 
say  anything  at  this  convention,  because  in  my  study  of  this  proposition 
I  have  become  committed  somewhat  to  a  plan  of  organization,  a  plan  of 
campaign,  that  is  not  open  for  discussion  at  the  present  time,  but  never- 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


117 


theless  it  does  seem  to  me  that  there  is  a  point  in  the  discussion  that  has 
taken  place  this  morning  upon  which  there  can  be  a  general  agreement. 
In  the  first  place,  in  order,  in  my  judgment,  to  accomplish  the  reforms  that 
are  necessary  in  almost  all  of  our  municipalities  it  is  necessary  for  a  pro- 
gram of  achievement  to  be  clearly  understood  and  to 
Program  of  be  thoroughly  conceived.  I  do  not  harmonize  with 
Achievement  that  sentiment  that  exists  on  the  part  of  many  people 
that  all  political  officials  holding  office  are  corrupt,  or 
that  they  scheme  to  do  things  wholly  for  their  own  personal  aggrandize- 
ment or  benefit.  I  believe  that  in  many  a  city  there  are  public  officials 
who  are  very  anxious  to  do  the  right  thing,  who  are  very  anxious  to  know 
what  the  people  believe  is  the  right  thing.  But  unfortunately  as  things 
exist  at  the  present  time  there  is  no  method  for  them  to  find  out  exactly 
what  is  the  proper  thing  for  them  to  attain  to  in  the  particular  depart- 
ment which  they  are  seeking  to  serve.  The  gentleman  who  has  just 
spoken  has  referred  to  it  in  the  fact  that  many  of  these  officials  don't 
know  what  are  the  best  things  that  are  being  attained  in  municipal  gov- 
ernment in  Germany  where  there  are  so  many  excellent  things  being  done, 
or  in  England. 

I  believe  and  I  know  that  in  many  of  our  American  communities  and 
municipalities  there  are  splendid  things,  excellent  attainments  that  stand 
forth  as  a  credit  to  those  communities.  Now,  gentlernen,  if  we  in  some 
manner  or  other  can  bring  those  experiences  to  a  point  so  thatin  every 
community  in  the  American  municipalities  today  we  can  hold  them  up 
before  all  the  people  that  are  seeking  to  serve  the  public  and  before  the 
people  who  are  demanding  service  from  thi  ir  public  officials  as  a  pattern, 
why  then  we  have  accomplished  a  great  deal.  And  after  you  get  a  munici- 
pal organization  that  is  working  for  these  things  along  the  line  perhaps 
of  your  municipal  research  bureau  in  the  city  of  New  York,  only  depart- 
mentized  more,  going  out  and  ramifying  its  investigations  into  various 
departments,  we  will  then  bring  our  influence  to  bear  in  accomplishing 
those  things  we  desire. 

We  have  proceeded  far  enough  in  municipal  work  at  the  present  time 
to  standardize  certain  things.  Probably  one  of  our  greatest  lacks  in  our 
service  of  cities  is  the  purchase  of  supplies.  In  New  York  a  certain  line 
of  supplies  will  cost  you  a  certain  thing;  in  Philadelphia  another  price; 
investigation  will  show  between  the  high  prices  paid  in  New  York  for  cer- 
tain things  and  the  lowest  price  paid  in  another  community  there  is  a  very 
wide  difference.  Why  that  difference?  After  you  standardize  a  price  at 
which  those  things  can  be  purchased  and  after  you  get  a  standard  through 
your  municipal  organization,  gentlemen,  then  comes  along  your  municipal 
voters'  league  which  recommends  for  election  on  behalf  of  the  people  the 
candidates  who  pledge  themselves  to  maintain  and  to  pattern  their  ser- 
vice on  behalf  of  the  people  after  these  standards  have  been  set  up.  [Ap- 
plause.] 


ii8 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


The  Chairman:  Mr.  Alden  Freeman,  a  militant  citizen  of  East  Orange, 
is  unable  to  be  with  us  today  but  he  makes  the  following  contribution 
which  he  calls  Victory  in  Defeat:  the  Value  of  Non-Partisan  Movements 
in  Municipal  Campaigns. 

Mr.  Freeman:  "The  country  is  full  of  winners;  what  we  need  is  the 
good  loser." — Lincoln  Steffens.  In  East  Orange  on  November  3  we 
failed  for  the  [fifth  time  to  elect  our  independent  candidate  for  mayor; 
but  I  am  one  of  those  who  believe  that  no  honest  effort  is  ever  wasted 
and  that  sincerity  of  purpose  is  bound  to  produce  good  results;  hence  I 
never  feel  discouraged  or  disheartened  because  few  or  sometimes  none  of 
our  candidates  are  elected  in  these  non-partisan  campaigns  that  have 
been  carried  on  in  our  city  for  the  past  dozen  years. 

Whatever  our  platforms  contain  that  is  of  really  practical  benefit  to 
the  city  will  be  carried  out,  because  those  in  ofiice  know  very  well,  if 
they  don't  carry  out  these  reforms,  that  at  the  next 
Ideas  Carried  election  the  citizens  will  elect  the  men  who  propose 
Out  by  the  reforms.    Among  such  measures  that  have  already 

Opponents  been  carried  out  I  may  mention  the  sprinkling  of  all 

the  streets  by  the  municipality  and  stated  salaries  for 
aldermen  in  place  of  fees  for  meetings  without  limit. 

The  few  candidates  that  we  have  from  time  to  time  succeeded  in  elect- 
ing have  without  exception  made  good.  One  of  these  men  installed  an 
up-to-date  system  of  audit  of  the  city's  accovmts; 
Work  Carried  another  codified  the  rules  of  the  police  department. 
Out  by  Our  reformed  the  method  of  issuing  city  bonds  and  provided 
Candidates  their  proper  advertising  and  sale;  a  third  installed 

and  managed  with  success  our  million-dollar  water 
plant,  inaugurated  an  unique  plan  of  municipal  farming  for  supplying 
fodder  for  the  horses  in  the  fire,  road  and  sewer  departments,  and  estab- 
lished the  tree-planting  commission;  while  a  fourth  conducted  courses 
of  free  lectures  for  adults  in  the  public  schools  during  his  term  as  school 
commissioner. 

Our  campaign  in  1902  resulted  in  a  saving  of  several  hundred  thousand 
dollars  in  the  price  paid  by  the  city  to  the  water  company  for  its  pipe 
system.  We  now  have  greater  publicity  in  every  department  of  our 
municipal  affairs  and  a  courteous  hearing  for  citizens  as  a  scheduled  part 
of  the  proceedings  at  every  meeting  of  the  city  council.  This  is  a  distinct 
advance  over  the  days  of  1902,  when  citizens  and  taxpayers  were  not 
permitted  to  speak  in  opposition  to  the  granting  of  perpetual  franchises 
to  trolley  companies. 

No  matter  how  excellent  the  reformer's  ideas,  if  they  are  only  advo- 
cated through  letters  to  the  newspapers,  or  by  papers  read  to  gatherings 
of  men  and  women  of  like  opinions,  they  influence  the  practical  politician 
not  a  bit;  but  let  the  reformer  get  into  the  political  field  and  win  votes 
for  his  measures,  then  the  politicians  begin  to  take  notice. 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


119 


It  is  the  votes  that  count,  whether  you  have  a  majority  or  not.  Your 
oldtime  politician  knows  how  few  votes  it  takes  to  change  a  minority  into 
a  majority.  The  real  triumph  of  the  reformer  is  to  see  his  ideas  carried 
out  by  his  opponents,  for  that  is  real  progress.  When  the  practical  man, 
long  in  public  office,  carries  out  the  new  ideas,  actual  progress  is  made; 
for  that  is  the  conversion  of  your  opponent,  who  always  wants  to  get  on 
the  popular  side  and  he  will  not  so  readily  recede  from  a  position  once 
taken  as  the  less  conservative  reformer. 

I  find  also  that  local  non-partisan  campaigning  often  has  a  strong  effect 

on  larger  political  struggles  outside  the  municipality. 
Effects  Out-  igo2  the  turning  down  of  the  friendly  advances 

side  of  the  made  to  the  Citizens  Union  of  East  Orange  by  the 

county  boss  of  the  dominant  party  largely  contributed 
Municipality       ^o  his  defeat  as  the  candidate  for  sheriff;  he  being  the 

only  candidate  of  his  party  defeated  and  falling  13,000 
behind  the  rest  of  his  ticket. 

It  was  before  our  non-partisan  organization  that  the  first  of  our  inde- 
pendent candidates  for  mayor,  the  late  Henry  H.  Hall,  sounded  the  key- 
note of  the  anti-corporation  fight  in  New  Jersey.  Over  six  years  ago,  on 
October  18,  1902,  Mr.  Hall  made  his  notable  address  on  "Domination  of 
Corporations  through  Control  of  Party  Machinery,"  in  which  he  described 
his  examination,  in  the  course  of  his  own  business  affairs,  of  the  re-organi- 
zation of  a  public  utilities  company  and  his  discovery  of  the  assignment 

of  stock  to  leading  Democratic  and  Republican  officials 
Activity  of  ^^^^  where  the  business  was  conducted,  as  well 

p  . .  as  to  prominent  national  politicians.    Mr.  Hall  asserted 

^  .  .  that  the  corporations  which  had  dealings  with  the  city 

in  Politics  government  of  East  Orange  had  actually  dictated 

appointments  in  the  cabinet  of  the  president  of  the 
United  States;  that  they  had  made  a  vice-president  of  the  United  States; 
had  named  a  United  States  Senator  and  various  governors  of  New  Jersey; 
in  fact  that  they  "dictated  policies  at  Trenton  and  influenced  them  at 
Washington."  These  statements,  which  were  included  in  an  ardent 
appeal  for  the  entire  separation  of  municipal  from  county,  State  and 
national  politics,  caused  his  hearers  to  sit  up  and  take  notice.  Mr.  Hall's 
statements  were  confirmed  three  years  later  by  Charles  E.  Hughes  in  the 
insurance  investigation  in  New  York  State  and,  if  further  proof  was 
needed  of  corporation  interference  in  our  government,  it  has  been  abun- 
dantly furnished  by  Mr.  Hearst  in  the  recent  campaign. 

It  takes  time  for  great  reforms  to  work  out,  and  it  was  nearly  three 

years  after  Henry  Hall's  initial  speech  before  Everett 
Origin  of  the  Colby  threw  down  the  gauntlet  to  the  Public  Service 
Colby  Move-  Corporation  of  New  Jersey  in  the  same  hall  before 
jjjgQ^  a  meeting  of  the  same  organization  presided  over  by 

Mr.  Hall,  who  in  the  interval  had  been  chosen  president 
of  the  Citizens  Union.    It  was  in  his  address  on  ' '  The  Grasp  of  the  Cor- 


I20 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


porations"  that  Mr.  Colby  opened  his  campaign  for  the  state  senatorship 
in  opposition  to  the  bosses  and  in  defiance  of  the  corporations,  and 
here  in  Commonwealth  Hall,  East  Orange,  on  March  i,  1905,  he  inaugu- 
rated what  has  since  been  known  throughout  New  Jerseyas  the  Colby 
Movement. 

So  again  I  say  that  although  we  never  elected  Henry  Hall  to  any  public 
office,  his  honest  effort  for  political  betterment  can  in  no  sense  be 
regarded  as  a  failure.  These  "lone  fighters"  in  inde- 
Successful  pendent  and  non-partisan  campaigns  are  pioneers  and 

Though  pathfinders,  and  their  guerrilla  warfare  is  like  that  of 

Defeated  farmers  along  the  Lexington  and  Concord  Road; 

but  they  likewise  fire  shots  that  echo  'round  the 
world,  although  the  sharpshooters  themselves,  like  those  of  1775,  go 
down  to  unknown  graves  without  a  regret  or  one  thought  of  self,  for 
these  are  the  men  who  fight  for  a  cause  and  not  for  glory. 

There  is  still  another  consideration  in  connection  with  non-partisan 
and  independent  campaigns  that  should  not  be  overlooked.  There  is 
no  telling  how  many  things  they  prevent  by  reason  of  the  public  interest 
created  by  them  in  municipal  affairs.  The  publicity  of  the  campaign, 
the  calcium  light  cast  upon  the  city  hall  and  the  doings  of  its  various 
inmates,  make  even  the  most  strongly  intrenched  machine  politicians 
think  twice  before  engaging  in  schemes  opposed  to  the  general  interest. 

Finally,  I  regard  these  campaigns  as  especially  valuable  in  educating 
those  who  take  part  in  them.  The  political  reformer  gets  an  insight  into 
practical  poUtics  that  wiU  convince  him  that  the  end 
Education  does  not  justify  the  means;  that  compromise  with 

of  the  wrong  or  injustice  is  fatal  to  a  cause;  he  will  cease  to 

Workers  ^®  ^  respecter  of  persons;  only  what  a  man  is,  and 

not  what  he  has,  will  coimt  with  him,  and  he  comes  at 
last  to  reaUze  that  no  office  or  public  honor,  however  exalted,  can 
possibly  in  any  way  dignify  any  man,  and  that  service  in  behalf  of  his 
fellow-men  can  alone  shed  luster  upon  any  public  position. 

The  independent  in  politics  is  pretty  certain  also  to  realize,  after  he 
has  studied  the  conditions  of  life  among  the  actual  producers  of  wealth, 
that  there  can  never  be  a  "  square  deal"  tmder  the  profit  system;  for  where 
one  man  makes  a  profit  out  of  another  man's  labor,  the  man  who  enjoys 
the  profit  gets  something  for  nothing  at  the  expense  of  the  other,  which 
is  essentially  of  the  nature  of  gambling  and  opposed  to  justice  and  square 
dealing.  As  there  can  be  no  square  deal  between  an  armed  man  and  an 
unarmed  man,  so  there  can  be  no  square  deal  between  the  man  armed 
with  the  unearned  increment  of  capital  and  the  man  whose  only  weapon 
is  the  labor  of  his  hand  or  brain. 

And  this  brings  us  to  the  conclusion  that  if  it  be  true  that  the  laborer 
is  worthy  of  his  hire,  then  it  follows,  as  the  night  the  day,  that  the  laborer 
is  entitled  to  his  full  hire,  which  is  nothing  less  than  the  full  product  of 
his  labor,  else  must  he  share  with  someone  else  who  does  not  toil;  and 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


121 


this  brings  us  finally  to  that  stem  doctrine  which  I  believe  will  prove  to 
be  the  chief  stone  of  the  comer  of  the  cooperative  commonwealth  toward 
which  we  are  moving  throughout  the  world;  that  he  who  will  not  work 
SHALL  NOT  EAT.  This  doctrine  applies  with  equal  force  to  both  extremes 
of  our  present  social  life  and  places  in  the  same  category  the  hobo  and 
the  spendthrift. 

The  President:  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  I  regret  to  say  that  the  session 
this  morning,  which  has  been  so  exceedingly  interesting  to  the  speakers — I 
mean  to  the  audience  [laughter]  and  so  edifying  and  improving  to  all  of 
us,  must  now  draw  to  a  close.  I  believe  that  we  meet  again  in  this  room 
at  two-thirty  this  afternoon,  at  which  time  the  further  work  of  the  League 
will  be  continued  along  the  same  lines  of  general  disagreement  which  have 
marked  its  course  this  moming.    The  meeting  now  stands  adjourned. 

The  convention  then  adjourned  until  2  130  p.m. 

WEDNESDAY  AFTERNOON  SESSION. 

Wednesday,  November  18,  1908,  2.30  p.m. 
The  sixth  session  of  the  Convention  was  called  to  order  by 
Mayor  George  W.  Guthrie  of  Pittsburgh,  Fifth  Vice-President 
of  the  League. 

The  Chairman:  The  first  paper  on  the  program  for  this  aftemoon  is 
"The  Municipal  Library  as  an  Investment,"  by  Dr.  Charles  McCarthy  of 
the  Legislative  Reference  Bureau  of  Madison,  Wisconsin.  This  paper 
will  be  printed  (see  Appendix)  in  the  proceedings,  and  we  shall  now  listen 
to  a  discussion  of  it  by  Dr.  Horace  E.  Flack,  who  has  so  successfully  organ- 
ized the  Baltimore  bureau. 

See  Appendix  for  Dr.  Flack's  paper,  entitled  "Municipal  Reference 
Libraries." 

The  Chairman:  The  next  paper  to  be  presented  this  aftemoon  is  one 
on  "The  Washington  Situation."  In  this  paper  Mr.  Reynolds,  whose 
prominence  in  municipal  and  public  movements  is  well  known,  will 
give  us  the  benefit  of  the  research  made  by  him  in  the  capital  city  under  the 
direction  of  and  at  the  request  of  the  President.  I  have  the  honor  to 
introduce  James  B.  Reynolds,  Esq. 

Mr.  Reynolds  then  read  his  paper  on  "The  Washington  Situation." 
(See  Appendix.) 

A  Delegate:  May  I  ask  Mr.  Reynolds  a  question?  Whether  the  gov- 
ernor once  appointed  shall  serve  during  life  or  good  behavior  or  will  he 
have  a  term? 

Mr.  Reynolds:  Probably  the  same  term  as  the  present  district  com- 
missioners, four  years,  to  correspond  with  the  term  of  the  chief  executive 


122 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


of  the  nation  who  appoints  him.  Personally  I  was  very  much  surprised 
on  the  other  side  with  the  success  of  having  a  term  so  long  as  twelve  years 
in  Berlin.  In  a  conversation  I  had  with  the  mayor  of  that  city,  he  ex- 
plained to  me  the  careful  plan  he  outlined  for  the  normal  period  he  would 
have  and  the  chance  he  would  have  to  see  the  realization  of  his  best  endeav- 
ors, as  very  few  reform  mayors  in  our  city  ever  have  a  chance.  But  I  do 
not  think  that  any  one  here  could  make  a  recommendation  for  such  a  long 
term  as  twelve  years  with  any  hope  of  having  it  adopted. 

The  Chairman:  The  next  paper  on  the  program  is  "Ten  Years  of  Uni- 
form Municipal  Reporting,"  by  Hon.  LeGrand  Powers,  Census  Bureau, 
Washington,  and  Harvey  S.  Chase,  Boston.  I  have  the  pleasure  of  pre- 
senting to  you  Mr.  Powers.  [Applause.] 

Dr.  Powers  then  presented  his  paper.    (See  Appendix.) 

President  Bonaparte  (who  in  the  meantime  had  assumed  the  chair): 
I  regret  to  say  that  as  announced  this  morning  Mr.  Chase  is  unable  to  be 
present  and  read  the  supplementary  paper  which  was  to  have  accompanied 
the  one  to  which  we  have  already  Ustened  with  so  much  interest,  and  I 
have  no  doubt  with  so  much  edification.  We  will  now  hear  a  paper  on 
the  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research  which  has  been  prepared  by  Dr.  Wil- 
liam H.  Allen  of  New  York,  and  will  be  read  by  Mr.  Rufus  E.  Miles,  his 
first  assistant. 

Mr.  Woodruff:  Mr.  Chase  is  only  prevented  from  being  here  by  his 
doctor's  orders.  He  is  in  bed  and  unable  to  get  up.  His  paper  will  be 
printed  in  the  Proceedings.    (See  Appendix.) 

Mr.  Rufus  E.  Miles:  Were  it  not,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  I  believe  most 
of  us  can  stand  a  great  deal  of  a  good  thing  I  should  be  tempted  to  believe 
that  the  presentation  of  the  case  for  municipal  research  this  afternoon 
is  somewhat  unnecessary  from  the  fact  that  in  every  meeting  of  this 
conference  which  I  have  attended  I  have  heard  one  or  more  speakers 
preaching  excellent  municipal  research  doctrine.  But  in  those  cases  it 
did  not  bear  the  particular  label;  so  I  am  here  to  present  similar  doctrine 
under  the  label. 

It  was  some  years  ago  that  the  well  known  pronouncement  of  James 
Bryce  came  forth  that  municipal  government  was  America's  most  con- 
spicuous failure.    But  to  those  who  have  been  watching  the  trend  of 

events  and  have  been  attending  such  meetings  as  these 
Mr.  Bryce's  for  the  last  few  years,  it  is  increasingly  clear  that 
Dictum  ^  tids  is  rising  which  will,  we  hope,  soon  make  Mr. 

Bryce's  dictum  obsolete.  Some  efforts  at  municipal 
reform  remind  one  of  the  experience  of  a  prisoner  in  a  penitentiary  in  a 
neighboring  state.  He  was  an  intelligent  fellow  and  soon  gained  the 
position  of  trusty.  In  the  course  of  his  duties  the  architect's  plans  of 
the  institution  came  into  his  custody.    They  indicated  under  a  certain 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


123 


obscure  comer  of  the  prison  yard  a  three  foot  sewer  with  a  full-sized  open- 
ing, apparently  unguarded;  so  he  determined  to  make  a  try  for  it.  For 
some  weeks  he  dug  and  dug,  and  finally  got  down  to  the  opening.  When 
he  examined  the  opening,  he  found  that  instead  of  being  a  three-foot 
sewer  it  was  only  a  foot  and  a  half;  so  he  stayed  inside  with  a  curse  for 
the  grafters  who  were  still  on  the  outside.  Now  municipal  reformers 
who  don't  have  accurate,  defijiite  information  always  stay  on  the  inside. 
If  municipal  research  had  had  anj-thing  to  do  with  that  particular  place 
the  architect's  plans  would  have  told  the  truth  and  there  would  have 
been  a  three-foot  opening.  You  may  say  that  that  is  of  questionable 
value  under  the  circumstances.  I  hasten  to  rejoin  that  municipal  research 
would  have  seen  either  that  the  opening  was  properly  protected  by  a 
grating  or  else  that  the  plans  never  came  into  the  possession  of  the  prisoner. 

The  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research  would  be  the  last  to  insist  that  it 
has  any  panacea  for  municipal  mismanagement.    It  does  say,  however, 

in  common  with  a  great  many  other  agencies,  that  the 
Municipal  way  to  begin  is  to  secure  the  fullest,  most  adequate, 

Research  most  definite  information    You  ask  what  is  new  about 

Demands  Facts  ^'^ll,  there  isn't  anything  particularly  new  about 

it  except  the  fact  that  it  has  never  been  done.  As 
the  Boston  divine  said  about  Christianity,  it  has  never  failed  because  it 
never  has  been  thoroughly  tried.  I  suppose  the  nineteenth  century 
must  count  among  its  greatest  achievements  the  expansion  of  natural 
science  through  the  adoption  of  what  we  have  now  come  to  call  the 
scientific  method.  The  scientific  method  is  nothing  more  than  the  care- 
ful, systematic,  painstaking  inquiry  into  facts,  which  is  the  same  method 
that  municipal  research  is  trying  to  apply  to  the  problems  of  municipal 
government. 

This  method  has  already  been  applied  to  some  extent  in  the  conduct 
of  elections.  For  some  years  we  have  had  municipal  voters'  leagues, 
citizens'  unions,  municipal  associations,  good  government  associations, 
whose  main  object  has  been  to  apply  the  principle  of  full,  definite  infor- 
mation to  the  election  of  officials;  and  there  is  no  question  but  that  that 
process  has  raised  the  standard  of  public  officials  to  a  great  extent.  It 
is  noticeable,  however,  that  among  such  associations,  those  that  have 
prospered  the  most,  those  which  have  made  the  greatest  impression  upon 
the  localities,  are  those  which  have  not  been  content  simply  to  wait  until 
election  time  and  then  say,  "Mr.  So-and-So,  the  candidate  for  such-and- 
such  an  office,  has  voted  for  such-and-such  measures  and  has  refused  to 
vote  for  such-and-such  other  measures."  On  the  contrary  it  has  been 
associations  which  have  formulated  some  sort  of  constructive  program 
that  have  made  the  greatest  success. 

Now  we  submit  that  the  question  of  where  public  money  goes  is  as 
important  a  question  as  the  question  of  electing  officials.  If  a  de- 
partment gets  more  than  it  needs,  then  there  is  municipal  waste.  If 
on  the  other  hand  an  efficient  official  receives  funds  which  are  not  ade- 


124 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


quateto  support  the  service  which  he  believes  the  city  should  receive 
and  which  the  city  really  demands,  then  the  municipal 
Importance  of  service  is  going  to  be  crippled.  Nevertheless,  I  will 
the  Budget  venture  to  say  that  if  we  could  put  the  question  to  any 
well  informed  audience  of  business  men,  such  as  for 
example  a  meeting  of  the  chamber  of  commerce  in  this  or  any  other  city, 
not  lo  per  cent  of  those  present  at  such  meetings  could  describe  correctly 
the  way  in  which  appropriations  are  made  annually  for  city  departments. 
And  yet  the  budget  means  efficiency  or  inefficiency  in  those  departments 
during  the  coming  year. 

I  want  to  give  you  in  a  word  or  two  what  has  happened  in  New  York  in 
connection  with  the  annual  budget.    Three  years  ago  there  were  three 
people,  if  I  remember  correctly,  who  appeared  before 
Taxpayers'  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  at  what  is 

Hearing  known  in  the  charter  as   the    taxpayers'  hearing. 

Nobody  ever  took  advantage  of  it,  and  the  board  of 
estimate  did  not  expect  anybody  to  appear  with  any  valuable  infor- 
mation; consequently  it  was  purely  a  perfunctory  matter.  This  year 
the  room  was  crowded  to  the  doors.  There  were  far  more  citizens  who 
wanted  to  be  heard  than  could  be  heard,  and  as  the  result  of  hearings 
and  of  the  conferences  following  those  hearings  the  tentative  budget 
for  this  year  for  New  York  City  instead  of  being  one  hundred  and  sixty 
millions  or  thereabouts,  as  was  at  first  proposed  was  cut  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty-six  millions,  a  small  saving  perhaps,  but  still  more  than  one- 
third  enough  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  city  of  Pittsburgh  for  next  year. 
And  how  was  that  result  arrived  at?  It  was  arrived  at  by  applying  the 
processes  of  inquiry  as  to  what  departments  needed.  If  a  department 
head  requested  an  increase  of  50  per  cent  in  a  pay- roll,  inquiry  was  made 
as  to  the  basis  of  facts  on  which  he  could  claim  such  an  increase.  Perhaps, 
as  actually  happened,  evidence  is  immediately  at  hand  to  show  that  dur- 
ing the  last  year  he  wasted  in  that  pay-roll  40  per  cent  of  the  money 
that  he  received.  Now  the  application  of  this  principle  of  demanding 
the  evidence  may  increase  or  it  may  decrease  the  total  amount,  but  that 
result  is  immaterial.  I  believe,  and  I  think  you  believe,  that  citizens  of 
this  or  any  other  city  are  perfectly  willing  to  pay  the  taxes  for  whatever 
necessary  service  they  believe  they  are  actually  getting.  What  they 
don't  want  to  do,  is  to  pay  for  service  that  they  are  not  getting  or  pay 
for  unnecessary  service. 

I  could  pick  out  at  random  a  good  many  different  branches  of  city 
administration  to  which  this  general  principle  has  been  applied.  I  think 
perhaps  it  would  prove  most  interesting  to  you  if  I  touch  upon  a  few  of 
of  them  in  a  brief  way  to  indicate  the  different  ap- 
Functional  plications  of  this  one  principle  of  finding  out  the  facts 
Accounting  and  of  formulating  some  kind  of  constructive  pro- 

gram. The  first  one  to  which  I  should  like  to  allude 
deals  with  the  problem  which  Dr.  Powers  has  already  discussed,  namely 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


the  question  of  functional  accounting.  We  are  in  hearty  sympathy  with 
the  views  which  he  has  expressed,  and  it  is  those  principles  which  we  are 
trying  to  work  out  locally  in  New  York  City.  In  one  of  the  city  depart- 
ments, for  example,  there  was  an  appropriation  which  read  every  year  ' '  Sal- 
aries of  Executive  Officials,  Clerks,  Inspectors  and  Other  Employees," 
called  popularly  ' '  The  Main  Roll. "  As  a  matter  of  fact  it  included  nearly 
every  kind  of  employee  that  the  department  contained,  and  constituted 
two-thirds  of  the  salary  appropriation  of  that  department.  That  situa- 
tion has  now  been  changed  so  that  the  salaries  of  each  division  of  the 
work  appear  separately  and  furnish  the  basis  for  current  reports  which 
enable  the  officials  of  the  department  to  see  how  the  work  is  being  carried 
out  and  what  resources  are  at  their  command  for  the  remainder  of  the  year. 
It  is  on  account  of  such  a  functional  arrangement  that  this  year,  for 
example,  the  officers  of  the  department  of  health  were  enabled  to  look 
over  their  financial  statement  and  see  that  by  letting  go  a  large  number 
of  inspectors  for  two  months  in  the  summer  and  employing  a  large  num- 
ber of  nurses  they  could  establish  a  service  on  a  new  and  larger  scale  to 
cope  with  the  problem  of  infant  mortality  in  the  summer.  Nearly  one 
hundred  nurses  were  added  who  went  throughout  New  York  instructing 
mothers  in  the  care  and  feeding  of  their  babies.  As  a  result  the  death  rate 
decreased  very  substantially  in  some  of  the  wards.  The  experience  demon- 
strated very  clearly  what  could  be  done  if  the  service  were  put  on  an  all- 
the- year-round  basis,  as  the  board  of  health  is  now  requesting  the  money 
to  do.  That  is  one  instance  of  the  way  in  which  functional  accounting 
(although  it  may  have  a  somewhat  formidable  and  technical  sound)  helps 
to  establish  control  over  administration  resulting  in  greater  efficiency. 

The  department  of  health  has,  on  the  basis  of  an  investigation  by  the 
Bureau  of  Municipal  Research  established  a  new  division  of  child  hygiene 
which  I  am  sure  will  prove  a  most  important  advance 
Child  Hygiene  in  preventive  medicine.  By  the  combination  of  various 
lines  of  work,  such  as  the  medical  inspection  of  school 
children,  the  summer  care  of  babies,  the  inspection  of  children  who  are 
applying  for  working  papers,  and  the  supervision  of  midwifery,  into  one 
bureau,  the  department  has  obtained  an  administrative  economy  which  is 
enabling  it  to  produce  some  very  successful  results. 

Here  is  a  report  on  the  city  debt  of  New  York.  It  contains  a  table 
raising  some  twenty-five  or  thirty  questions  about  the  city  debt  of  New 
York  which  have  never  yet  been  decided.  If  decided  in  one  direction 
the  city's  borrowing  capacity  would  be  increased  upwards  of  fifty  million 
dollars;  if  decided  the  other  way  the  city  has  exceeded  at  the  present 
time  its  borrowing  capacity  by  something  like  sixty  or  seventy  million 
dollars.  This  illustrates  the  result  which  you  get  when  you  apply  this 
method  of  inquiry. 

The  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research  has  encountered  a  willingness  on 
the  part  of  city  officials  to  cooperate  with  it.  It,  on  its  part,  is  always 
anxious  to  cooperate  with  the  city  officials    It  never  seeks  in  the  first 


126  PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 

instance  to  antagonize  any  city  official  or  to  put  him  out  of  office.  The 
Bureau  wishes  to  place  its  services  at  the  disposal  of  city  officials  in  order 
to  render  their  administration  as  effective  as  possible.  It  is  clear  enough 
that  all  city  officials  who  sincerely  desire  to  make  their  department 
effective  will  welcome  such  cooperation.  Those  who  are  running  their 
departments  for  other  objects  generally  prefer  not  to  say  so.  They 
generally  prefer  to  assume  that  they  can  cover  up  whatever  they  wish 
to  cover  up  and  to  put  on  the  attitude  of  welcoming 
Coooeration  cooperation.  So  it  is  rarely  if  ever  that  such  a  program 
•  meets  with  any  open  opposition  on  the  part  of  the 

of  Officials  city  officials.    Here  is  a  letter  from  a  city  official: 

"The  office  of  the  commissioner  of  accounts,  at  the 
direction  of  his  honor  the  mayor,  is  about  to  inaugurate  a  comprehensive 
study  of  the  organization  in  administrative  methods  of  bureau  offices 
and  city  departments,  with  a  view  to  establishing  a  basis  for  regular 
periodical  audits  of  every  branch  of  the  municipal  government.  It 
would  be  of  great  assistance  to  this  office  if  by  this  study  and  examination 
we  were  to  have  the  active  co5peration  of  the  bureau  of]municipal  research. ' ' 

We  feel  that  the  common  remedy  proposed  for  municipal  misman- 
agement, namely  the  election  of  good  officials,  is  defective  in  two 
particulars.  It  is  defective  for  the  reason  that  the  good  official  when 
he  is  elected,  no  matter  how  good  he  may  be,  cannot  produce  results 
without  a  business-like,  effective  method.  If  a  man  familiar  with  all  the 
methods  of  corporate  control  were  elected  mayor  of  almost  any  American 
city,  he  would  be  unable  to  give  effective  administration,  for  the  reason 
that  he  would  not  have  the  machinery  of  accounting,  of  statistics,  and 
the  general  machinery  of  control  which  goes  with  the  best  corporation 
management  of  today.  Good  officials  must  have  at  their  disposal  the 
best  and  most  effective  tools  in  the  way  of  administration.  In  the  second 
place  it  is  very  frequently  the  case  that  reform  administrations  do  not 
get  reelected,  and  there  is  then  no  assurance  of  the  continuance  of  the 
benefits  of  their  regime.  Municipal  research  aims  to  supply  the  most 
effective  administrative  machinery,  and  to  keep  it  in  operation  all  the  time. 

The  program  of  municipal  research  seems  to  us  simply  to  come  to  this, 
that  democracy  in  so  far  as  it  has  not  made  good  yet,  has  not  made  good 
because  it  has  not  been  quite  thorough.  It  has  got  to  give  more  time, 
more  energy,  more  effort  to  producing  effective  results.  There  are  a  num- 
ber of  men  that  you  can  mention  who  have  given  twenty-five  or  thirty- 
five  of  the  best  years  of  their  life  to  getting  control  of  the  machine  of  their 
city.  Now  just  as  soon  as  there  are  other  men  who  will  give  twenty-five 
or  thirty-five  of  the  best  years  of  their  life  to  establishing  control  over  that 
city  in  the  interests  of  loo  per  cent  of  the  citizens,  then  we  shall  have 
effective  municipal  government,  and  not  until  then.  [Applause.] 


The  Secretary:  Dr.  Allen  has  sent  the  following  abstract  which  gives 
in  concise  form  his  ideas  of  municipal  research : 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


127 


Abstract  of  address  by  William  H.  Allen,  Secretary  of  the  Bureau  of 
Municipal  Research,  on  the  Municipal  Research  Idea,  read  by  title. 

Municipal  research  is  a  method,  not  an  idea.  It  proposes  fact  tests 
for  officials  and  result  tests  for  remedies.  It  will  be  needed  by  munici- 
pality and  state,  county  and  city,  until  men  can  see  without  light  and 
work  together  without  creating  inequality,  sickness,  incapacity  and 
injustice. 

New  York's  test  of  municipal  research  has  proved  that  the  Lake  Itasca 
of  Graftland  is  neither  politics  nor  corrupt  motive,  but  ignorance  of  com- 
munity acts  and  community  needs;  that  inequality  of 
Municipal  knowledge  precedes  monopoly  of  opportunity;  that  pub- 

Research:  lie  intelligence  is  more  effective  than  public  opinion; 

a  Method  that  graft  and  inefficiency  fear  light  more  than  ballots; 

that  more  can  be  done  for  good  government  on  budget 
day  than  on  election  day;  that  Tammany  alive  and  harnessed  to  con- 
structive, educative  work  is  better  than  Tammany  dead,  and  infinitely 
easier  to  conceive. 

The  greatest  menace  to  American  institutions  is  not  immigration,  lack 
of  education,  private  monopoly  of  public  utilities,  nor  the  indifference  of 
the  best  citizens,  but  a  manner  of  conducting  public  business  which  fails 
to  keep  citizens  currently  informed  as  to  official  acts. 

Municipal  research  says  that  society  should  equip  itself  to  know  as  it 
goes  along  what  its  needs  are  and  where  it  fails  to  meet  them.  A  pastor 
ignorant  of  community  needs  and  official  acts  can  do  more  harm  than  a 
bartender;  a  continuing  ray  of  light  can  do  more  good  than  a  moral  explo- 
sion. When  facts  cannot  be  disputed,  issues  cannot  be  confused.  Before 
an  audience,  alleged  bad  men  perform  just  about  the 
An  Open  same  acts  as  so-called  good  men.    We  must  prevent 

Public  Eye  officials  from  ever  getting  away  from  an  audience. 

Needed  Democracy's  supreme  need  is  not  for  an  aroused  public 

conscience,  but  for  an  open  public  eye. 

Money  enough  is  being  spent  by  American  cities  to  secure  efficient 
government.  Inefficient  government  causes  more  corruption,  sickness, 
dependency  and  delinquency  than  any  other  anti-social  factor.  Ineffi- 
ciency of  government  is  primarily  due  to  badness  of  methods  rather  than 
to  badness  of  men.  Efforts  to  correct  misgovemment  have  too  frequently 
failed,  or  have  had  only  passing  success,  because  men  not  methods  were 
changed  or  attacked.  Continuing  knowledge  of  acts  is  infinitely  more 
effective  than  election  excitement.  Public  interest  in  so-called  good  gov- 
ernment must  be  sustained,  not  by  scandal  regarding  personalities,  but 
by  reiteration  of  facts  as  to  acts  committed  and  community  needs  not 
met.  City  employees  and  city  funds  should  work  with  such  methods 
that  they  will  themselves  reiterate  the  truth  regarding  work  done  and 
money  spent,  and  work  not  done  that  ought  to  be  done. 

Municipal  research  offers  no  cure-all  or  patent  remedy  for  misgovem- 
ment.   On  the  contrary  it  believes  that  no  power  outside  the  taxpayer's 


128 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


mind  can  overcome  the  forces  that  cause  bad  government.  Accounting 
reforms,  model  charters,  government  by  commission,  the  initiative,  refer- 
endum and  recall  will  be  but  instruments  of  evil  if  taxpayers  are  not  in- 
formed currently  about  official  acts.  Good  government  can  never  be 
established  on  citizenship  uninformed  as  to  government  acts. 

Misgovernment  of  township,  county  and  small  city  differs  from  misgov- 
emment  of  great  cities  in  degree  rather  than  in  kind.  The  difference  be- 
tween the  city  and  the  country  is  not  that  one  is  vicious  and  one  is  moral 
but  that  the  city  dare  not  and  cannot  hide  its  evils.  The  same  congestion 
that  creates  wretchedness  also  creates  understanding  and  fellowship. 
Evils  which]  only  cooperation  will  cure  show  the  way  to  benefits  more 
difficult  to  achieve  where  common  needs  and  common  acts  are  neither 
numerous  nor  obvious.  The  most  sordid  corruption  has  been  disclosed  in 
country  districts.  Farmers  still  allow  unsanitary  conditions  that  have 
not  existed  in  New  York  for  fifty  years.  Rural  legislators  have  obstructed 
more  reforms  than  they  have  initiated.  Country  as  well  as  city  must  learn 
to  regard  government  as  a  sequence  of  acts  rather  than  a  sequence  of 
personalities. 

What  municipal  research  would  do  for  Pittsburgh  may  be  illustrated 
from  two  methods  now  being  used  to  educate  its  citizens,  two  kinds  of 
research  that  every  community  must  be  taught  to  do 
Two  Kinds  for  itself,  the  Pittsburgh  Survey  and  the  Civic  Exhibit, 
of  Research  Working  and  living  conditions  have  been  surveyed  and 
photographed,  and  Pittsburgh  is  given  a  view  of  more 
social  evils  at  one  time  than  was  ever  before  enjoyed  by  any  American 
city.  Yet  one  factor  has  not  been  surveyed  nor  exhibited,  and  that  the 
only  factor  which  acts  with  the  momentum  of  loo  per  cent  of  the  popu- 
lation of  Pittsburgh,  the  only  condition  and  the  only  machine  that  does 
harm  or  good  in  the  name  of  all  citizens.  This  unsurveyed,  unexhibited 
factor  is  the  government  of  Pittsburgh.  That  government  if  inefficient 
can  cause  more  wretchedness  in  one  year  than  private  benevolence  will 
assuage  in  a  generation;  it  can  do  more  in  a  decade  to  improve  physical 
and  moral  conditions  in  Pittsburgh  than  can  private  philanthropy  in  a 
half  century.  Neither  Pittsburgh  nor  any  other  American  city  can  know 
the  whole  story  of  her  needs  and  her  opportunities  until  she  knows  her 
government,  and  until  she  insures  government  methods  and  habits  that 
bring  into  the  full  light  of  day  official  acts  and  community  needs. 

In  three  short  years,  the  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research  has  secured  for 
New  York  City  budget  estimates  that  tell  clearly  for  what  purposes  money 
is  requested;  budget  conditions  making  impossible  diversion  of  funds  from 
purposes  mentioned  in  the  budget  to  other  purposes  without  special  author- 
ity; conditions  that  make  impossible  without  public  knowledge  and  special 
authority  the  exceeding  in  any  one  month  one-twelfth  of  the  amount 
appropriated  in  the  budget  for  a  year;  uniform  systems  of  accounting  and 
of  service  records  with  periodic  summaries  for  all  departments  to  describe 
money  spent  when  spent  and  work  done  when  done;  reorganization  from 


J 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


129 


top  to  bottom  of  the  department  of  finance  so  that  expenditures,  revenues 
and  service  rendered  shall  be  currently  audited,  controlled  and  reported; 

reorganization  of  the  commissioners  of  accounts'  office, 
What  the  previously  a  whitewashing  body,  so  that  now  it  is 

N.  Y.  Bureau  equipped  to  provide  efficient  and  continuing  audit  and 
has  Achieved  examination  of  departments.  Reorganization  has  fol- 
lowed important  reports  on  the  administration  of  the 
park  and  health  departments,  control  of  water  revenues,  purchase  of  real 
estate  by  the  city,  tenement  house  administration.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that 
removal  and  even  criminal  prosecution  in  several  instances  has  followed 
the  publication  of  facts,  the  Bureau  has  from  the  outset  had  the  active 
cooperation  of  city  officials,  practically  without  exception.  It  was  asked 
by  the  mayor  and  comptroller  to  sit  with  the  committee  that  prepared  the 
tentative  budget  for  1909.  Its  cooperation  has  been  invited  by  the  joint 
legislative  committee  on  city  finances  to  determine  the  city's  present 
indebtedness,  by  the  police  commissioner  to  investigate  his  supply  bureau, 
and  by  numerous  department  heads  wishing  to  settle  controversies  by  the 
determination  and  publication  of  facts.  For  the  charter  revision  com- 
mission it  charted  the  functions  and  organization  of  the  city. 

When  public  transactions  are  forced  into  the  light,  "good motives" 
are  strengthened  and  "bad  motives"  are  weakened,  thus  making  the 
informed  sentiment  of  even  the  minority  effective  in  preventing  ineffi- 
ciency and  corruption.  The  Bureau's  experience  justifies  the  contention 
that  the  best  government  is  one  which  by  publicity  makes  possible  good 
government  through  the  kind  of  man  that  human  nature  and  politics 
force  into  leadership.  The  recent  Budget  Exhibit,  visited  by  over  60,000 
taxpayers,  was  welcomed  by  officials,  whether  desiring  to  make  known 
the  needs  of  their  departments  or  anxious  for  moral  support  against  the 
importunities  of  those  who  wish  through  the  budget  to  authorize  padded 
payrolls  and  illegitimate  profits. 

Philadelphia,  Memphis,  Atlanta,  Cincinnati,  Cleveland,  Seattle  and 
other  cities  have  asked  the  Bureau  to  help  them  improve  their  methods 
of  government  by  emphasizing  methods  not  men,  acts  not  personalities. 
A  national  foundation  or  a  ten  year  guarantee  is  needed  for  training  men 
and  setting  up  scientific  standards  for  cooperation  of  infonned  citizens 
with  officials. 

The  Chairman:  It  is  extremely  gratifying  to  the  National  Municipal 
League  to  see  thi  wonderful  development  in  recent  years  of  the  application 
of  the  principles  that  we  have  been  advocating  since  our  origin.  The 
principle  of  proper  municipal  accounting  will  enable  us  intelligently  to 
carry  on  municipal  government.  We  shall  now  listen  to  a  paper  by  Prof. 
John  A.  Fairlie  of  the  University  of  Michigan  on  another  phase  of  the  work 
of  this  league,  ''Charter  Tendencies  in  Recent  Years,"  as  bearing  upon 
the  principles  in  that  respect  advocated  by  the  National  Municipal  League. 
Professor  Fairlie.  [Applause.] 


13© 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


The  Chairman:  That  is  the  last  formal  paper  to  be  presented.  It  is 
now  a  quarter  past  five.  For  a  few  moments  if  any  one  would  like  to  dis- 
cuss briefly  any  of  the  points  in  the  paper  I  think  we  could  wait.  If 
there  be  no  desire  on  the  part  of  any  one  to  discuss  any  points  in  the  paper 
I  call  your  attention  to  this  evening's  program  when  the  annual  address 
of  our  president  will  be  given  in  Carnegie  Music  Hall  near  the  Schenley 
Hotel. 

The  conference  then  adjourned  until  eight  p.m. 

WEDNESDAY  EVENING  SESSION. 

Wednesday  Evening,  November  i8,  1908,  8  p.m. 

A  large  audience  gathered  in  Carnegie  Music  Hall  where  the 
eighth  session  of  the  Conference  was  held. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Mr.  J.  Horace  McFarland, 
a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  and  President  of  the 
American  Civic  Association. 

Mr.  McFarland:  You  are  advised  that  the  entire  building  is  open  to 
you.  This  includes  the  museum,  the  hall  of  sculpture  and  painting,  the 
hall  of  architecture  and  the  new  mural  paintings  by  Mr.  John  W.  Alexander 
recently  put  in  place.  Your  attention  is  very  particularly  called  to  the 
Civic  Exhibit,  included  in  which  is  the  Pittsburgh  Survey,  shown  on  the 
third  floor  of  this  building. 

When  you  realize  that  the  only  reason  you  now  live,  move  and  have 
your  being  in  the  city  of  Pittsburgh  is  because  you  have  been  using  the 
natural  resources,  the  conservation  of  which  will  mean  the  continuance  of 
your  prosperity,  you  will,  I  think,  see  the  desirability  so  far  as  is  conve- 
nient of  attending  upon  these  presentations,  upon  the  subject  matter  by 
men  of  national  renown  whose  lives  are  given  up  to  the  work.  This 
evening  we  are  to  have  first  an  address  by  your  honored  mayor,  Hon. 
George  W.  Guthrie,  on  "Some  Fundamental  Needs  in  Pennsylvania." 
I  have  the  honor  of  presenting  Mr.  Guthrie.  [Applause.] 

For  Mayor  Guthrie's  address,  see  the  Appendix. 

The  Chairman:  Of  these  words  of  wisdom  every  city  in  Pennsyl- 
vania and  almost  every  city  in  the  United  States,  may  well  avail  itself. 
Thus  having  heard  from  your  own  city,  and  from  a  man  who  lives 
what  he  preaches  and  does  what  he  promises,  let  us  have  the  national 
view  in  constructive  statesmanship,  such  as  will  be  given  us  in  the 
annual  address  of  the  president  of  the  National  Municipal  League,  the 
Attorney-General  of  the  United  States,  as  given  us  by  Hon.  Charles  J. 
Bonaparte,  under  the  title  "Criminal  Law  as  an  Instrument  to  give 
Effect  to  the  People's  Will."  [Applause.] 

President  Bonaparte's  address  is  given  in  the  Appendix. 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


THURSDAY  MORNING  SESSION. 

Thursday,  November  ig,  1908 
The  ninth  session  of  the  Conference  was  called  to  order  by 
Judge  Henry  L.  McCune  of  Kansas  City,  Third  Vice-President 
of  the  League. 

The  Chairman  :  We  have  for  consideration  and  discussion  this  morning 
the  very  important  topic  of  the  "Control  of  PubHc  UtiHties."  We  shall 
have  the  benefit  of  the  consideration  of  the  subject  by  three  gentlemen 
who  perhaps  will  present  it  from  different  viewpoints,  at  least  from  differ- 
ent localities.  The  first  speaker  will  be  Dr.  B.  H.  Meyer,  who  is  especially 
qualified  to  speak  by  reason  of  his  connection  with  the  Wisconsin  Com- 
mission.   Dr.  Meyer.  [Applause.] 

Dr.  Meyer  then  read  his  paper.    (See  Appendix.) 

The  Chairman:  Dr.  Meyer  has  given  us  a  very  instructive  and  inter- 
esting exposition  of  the  Wisconsin  law. 

We  are  also  fortunate  this  morning  in  having  with  us  a  member  of  the 
New  York  Commission  which  has  jurisdiction  in  the  state  outside  of  the 
city  of  New  York  in  the  person  of  the  next  speaker,  Hon.  Thomas  M. 
Osborne,  former  mayor  of  the  city  of  Auburn.  [Applause.] 

Mr.  Osborne  then  delivered  an  address,  which  is  printed  in  full  in  the 
Appendix. 

The  Chairman  :  Mr.  Osborne  has  given  us  a  very  interesting  statement 
of  the  strong  features  as  well  as  the  weaknesses  of  the  New  York  law. 
Now,  with  this  explanation  of  the  Wisconsin  law  and  of  the  New  York 
law  the  discussion  will  be  continued  by  a  paper  by  Mr.  Joseph  B.  Eastman, 
Boston,  Secretary  of  the  Public  Franchise  League  of  Boston,  who  will 
present  "The  Massachusetts  Idea."  [Applause.] 

Mr.  Joseph  B.  Eastman:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  regret  very  much  that  no 
man  who  is  a  commissioner  is  here  today  to  represent  the  State  of  Massa- 
chusetts, but  unfortunately  we  have  three  boards  there  who  have  abso- 
lutely distinct  fields  and  no  man  holding  an  official  position  would  care 
to  speak  for  all  three  boards.  So  I  shall  therefore  attempt  to  consider  the 
work  of  these  commissions  from  the  standpoint  of  an  outsider  who  has 
an  opportunity  to  see  results,  but  who  is  not  so  well  acquainted  with  the 
machines  by  which  those  results  are  obtained. 

Mr.  Eastman  then  read  his  paper,  which  is  printed  in  the  Appendix. 

The  Chairman:  I  regret  that  no  time  remains  for  a  discussion  of  these 
excellent  papers,  valuable  as  such  a  discussion  would  no  doubt  prove  to 
be.  This  is  the  closing  session  of  the  League.  Is  there  any  business  to  be 
presented  before  we  adjourn? 


132 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


Mr.  John  C.  Winston:  Mr.  Chairman,  at  the  close  of  the  last  annual 
meeting  of  the  League  in  Providence,  Mr.  Oliver  McClintock,  in  offering 
a  very  appropriate  resolution,  with  his  characteristic  modesty  expressed 
a  hope  that  if  it  should  ever  fall  to  the  fortune  of  Pittsburgh  to  entertain 
the  League  it  might  be  able  in  some  degree  to  imitate  the  hospitality  and 
courtesies  which  the  League  had  received  from  the  citi- 
Mr.  Mc-  zens  of  Providence.    I  am  sure  that  those  of  us  who 

Clintock's  have  been  able  to  attend  this  convention  are  all  agreed 

Ambition  that  we  have  realized  to  the  fullest  measure  the  aspira- 

tions of  Mr.  McClintock  as  expressed  at  that  time,  and 
it  is  therefore  not  in  any  formal  spirit,  but  as  an  inadequate  expression 
of  what  I  am  sure  we  all  feel,  that  I  offer  the  following  resolution  which 
with  your  permission  I  will  read. 

The  National  Municipal  League  takes  unusual  pleasure  in  acknowledg- 
ing the  gracious  and  kind  hospitality  extended  to  it  by  the  mayor  and 
citizens  of  Pittsburgh;  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce;  the  Pittsburgh 
Board  of  Trade;  the  Civic  Club  of  Allegheny  County;  the  Lawrenceville 
Board  of  Trade;  the  Northside  Chamber  of  Commerce;  the  Hotel  Men's 
Association;  the  Voters'  League  of  Pittsburgh;  the  Northside  Board  of 
Trade;  the  Homewood  Board  of  Trade;  the  Bloomfield  Board  of  Trade; 
the  Oakland  Board  of  Trade;  the  Allegheny  County  Medical  Society;  the 
Duquesne  Club  and  the  University  Club. 

The  interest  of  the  people  as  manifested  in  their  attendance;  the  cour- 
tesy and  oversight  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  the  indefatigable 
labors  of  its  ofl&cials,  and  especially  the  unwearying  at- 
Resolution  of     tention  of  Mr.  Oliver  McClintock,  the  Acting  Chairman 
Thanks  of  the  Committee  on  Arrangements,  call  for  particular 

mention,  as  also  the  intelligent  support  of  the  press, 
both  in  connection  with  the  Convention  and  with  its  preliminary  notices 
in  regard  to  it. 

Special  mention  is  to  be  made  of  the  cooperation  of  our  Pittsburgh 
hosts  in  making  the  First  Civic  Exhibit  a  striking  success,  and  the  thanks 
of  the  League  are  especially  tendered  in  this  connection  not  only  to  the 
Committee  on  Arrangements,  but  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Carnegie  Institute 
for  their  courtesy  in  placing  their  splendid  Galleries  at  the  service  of  the 
exhibit. 

In  reluctantly  taking  leave  of  Pittsburgh,  we  indulge  the  hope  and  the 
belief  that  the  great  energy  and  high  intelligence  for  which  it  has  so  long 
been  conspicuous,  will  rapidly  establish  a  record  of  civic  progress  and 
development  which  will  be  an  example  to  every  city  in  this  country. 

The  Chairman:  You  have  heard  the  resolution.  Is  there  a  discussion. 
Those  in  favor  of  the  adoption  of  this  resolution  will  kindly  rise. 

The  resolutions  were  carried  unanimously  by  a  rising  vote,  and  the  Con- 
vention thereupon  adjourned  sine  die. 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


133 


THURSDAY  AFTERNOON  SESSION. 

Thursday,  November  19,  1908,  i  p.m. 

The  organization  and  functions  of  the  city  club,  as  the  embodiment  of 
effort  for  civic  uplift,  was  discussed  at  an  informal  conference  on  Thurs- 
day afternoon,  Walter  L.  Fisher,  Esq.,  president  of  the  Chicago  City  Club, 
presiding.  Representatives  of  the  city  clubs  of  Chicago,  New  York,  Bos- 
ton, Philadelphia,  Cincinnati,  and  of  other  civic  organizations,  discussed 
the  way  in  which  their  organizations  had  become  factors  for  civic  right- 
eousness. 

The  conference  finally  resolved  itself  into  a  discussion  as  to  whether  the 
functions  of  the  city  club  should  be  confined  to  round  table  discussions 
of  questions  of  civic  interest,  and  to  giving  opportunity  for  the  unhindered 
presentation  of  all  sides  of  any  problem  under  consideration,  or  whether 
the  city  club  should  take  an  active  part  in  the  prosecution  of  constructive 
civic  work.  The  representatives  of  the  Boston,  Philadelphia  and  Cincin- 
nati clubs  supported  the  former  policy,  urging  that  the  club  should  be 
the  common  meeting  place  for  all  classes  and  every  interest,  where  every 
standpoint  might  be  presented  without  fear  or  prejudice.  These  repre- 
sentatives indicated  their  belief  that  as  soon  as  an  organization  takes 
a  stand  on  any  question  of  public  interest,  the  likelihood  of  its  being  a 
medium  for  the  free  presentation  and  discussion  of  opposing  interests  is 
lessened.  On  the  other  hand  representatives  of  the  New  York  and 
Chicago  city  clubs,  and  of  several  other  organizations,  expressed  the  belief 
that  the  club  should  crystallize  the  sentiments  which  result  from  its  dis- 
cussions, and  that  it  should  give  concrete  expression  to  these  sentiments 
in  active  service. 

It  was  further  urged  that  the  city  club  gives  opportunity  for  the  coop- 
eration of  all  the  reform  elements  of  the  community  in  prosecuting  an 
advanced  civic  program,  untrammeled  by  the  inertia  and  conservatism 
of  the  ordinary  civic  organization.  Differing  somewhat  from  this  view 
point,  the  representatives  of  the  Cleveland  and  Pittsburg  Chambers  of 
Commerce,  with  the  support  of  several  city  club  representatives,  expressed 
the  conviction  that  the  commercial  organization,  with  a  definite  civic 
program,  which  correlates  all  the  civic  efforts  in  the  community,  gains 
in  real  accomplishment  through  its  prestige  and  influence  more  than  it 
loses  through  the  existence  of  any  possible  conservative  element. 

All  the  conferees  seemed  agreed  as  to  the  essential  importance  in  the 
community  of  an  organization  which  brings  together  and  coordinates 
all  the  influences  which  make  for  better  government  and  higher  living. 

THE  CIVIC  EXHIBIT. 

One  of  the  most  striking  features  of  the  Pittsburgh  meetings  was  the 
Civic  Exhibit  prepared  under  the  auspices  of  the  Citizens'  Reception  and 
Entertainment  Committee  of  Pittsburgh,  in  connection  with  the  sessions 


^34 


PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 


of  the  National  Municipal  League  and  American  Civic  Association.  Per- 
haps the  best  way  to  describe  the  exhibit  would  be  to  reproduce  the 
descriptive  circular  prepared  by  the  managing  director,  Dr.  Benjamin  C. 
Marsh,  and  so  we  herewith  reproduce  it: 

The  First  Civic  Exhibit  in  Connection  with  the  National  Munici- 
pal League  and  the  American  Civic  Association  under  the 
Auspices  of  the  Citizens  Reception  and  Entertainment  Com- 
mittee held  in  the  Carnegie  Art  Galleries,  Pittsburgh,  Nov- 
ember l6  to  19,  1908  (open  from  10  A.M.  to  10  P.M.) 

AN  illustrated  UNIVERSITY  COURSE  FOR  AMERICAN  CITIZENS 

Officers:  George  W.  Guthrie,  Chairman;  Oliver  McClintock,  ist  Vice- 
President;  A.  Leo  Weil,  2d  Vice-President;  George  L.  Cruikshank,  3d 
Vice-President;  Wm.  M.  Kennedy,  Treasurer;  Logan  McKee,  Secretary. 

Exhibit  Committee:  Colbert  A.  MacClure,  Chairman;  T.  E.  Billquist, 
Henry  Homblower,  F.  A.  Russell,  Richard  Keihnal,  Benno  Janssen. 

"An  Ounce  of  Sight  is  Worth  a  Ton  of  Print." 
And  it  is  easier  and  quicker  to  learn  by  seeing. 

The  National  Municipal  League  and  the  American  Civic  Association 
add  this  year  a  program  of  visualization  on  the  following  all  important 
Civic  Problems: 

1.  Industries  and  Industrial  Conditions. 

2.  Public  Health. 

3.  Municipal  Government. 

4.  Congestion  of  Population. 

5.  Housing  Conditions. 

6.  Transportation. 

7.  The  Land  System. 

8.  Town  Planning. 

Among  the  Organizations  and  Departments  that  will  exhibit  are: 
The  Pittsburgh  Survey 

Some  of  the  results  of  a  year's  intensive  study  of  conditions  in  Pitts- 
burgh, under  the  direction  of  the  National  Publication  Committee  of 
Charities  and  the  Commons,  will  be  presented  in  graphic  form,  illustrat- 
ing what  every  city  should  know  about  itself. 

Cooperative  housing  in  foreign  cities  will  be  exhibited  as  examples  of 
what  is  feasible  in  Pittsburgh. 

The  Committee  on  Congestion  of  Population  in  New  York 

Which  drew  the  attention  of  the  country  to  the  fact  of  congestion  of 
population,  offices,  and  factories,  present  their  exhibit  of  convincing  dia- 


FOR  GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT  135 

grams,  charts,  maps  and  photographs,  and  the  most  complete  exhibit 
of  town  planning  in  the  country. 

The  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research  of  New  York  City,  by  their  Budget 
Exhibits 

Have  just  compelled  the  tax  payers  and  tax  spenders  of  the  world's 
metropolis  to  study  municipal  efficiency. 

Tax  payers  and  tax  spenders  in  American  cities  can  learn  much  from 
this  exhibit  to  which  will  be  added  a  comparison  of  the  Pittsburgh  Munici- 
pal Budget. 

The  City  Club  of  New  York 

At  the  Exhibit  of  Congestion  of  Population  in  New  York  focused  public 
attention  upon  transportation  as  a  means  of  distributing  population,  and 
their  exhibit  is  vital  to  all  cities  which  have  passed  the  ''town-meeting" 
stage. 

The  Pittsburgh  Bureau  of  Health 

Has  made  large  gains  in  the  last  two  years  in  milk  inspection,  removal 
of  unsanitary  vaults,  housing  inspection,  and  the  fight  against  tubercu- 
losis. 

The  Department  of  Public  Works 

Shows  the  operation  of  the  new  filtration  works. 

The  Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian  Organizations  in  New  York 

Has  for  thirteen  years  interpreted  facts  of  density  of  population  in 
their  religious-social  significance,  and  suggest  this  necessity  for  churches 
and  civic  effort. 

The  Associated  Charities  of  Pittsburgh 

Will  exhibit  models  and  charts  showing  how  unsanitary  conditions 
and  lack  of  cooperation  and  organization  make  charity  more  costly  for 
tax  payers  and  contributors. 

The  Kingsley  House  Association 

Will  have  an  exhibit  of  work  efficiently  done  by  the  association,  show- 
ing some  municipal  activities  which  the  city  should  conduct  by  taxation. 

The  Tuberculosis  League  of  Pittsburgh 

Will  illustrate  the  relation  between  Bad  Housing  and  Tuberculosis. 

THE  CIVIC  CLUB  OF  ALLEGHENY  COUNTY 

The  Pittsburgh  Playground  Association 

Will  present  certain  activities  now  supported  by  the  city  and  conditions 
necessitating  such  work. 


136  PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE 

Pittsburgh  Architects 

Will  have  on  exhibition  selected  designs  of  domestic  architecture. 

Landscape  Architects  and  Town  Planners 

Will  present  plans,  models,  and  photographs  of  mining  and  factory 
towns,  and  prove  by  what  has  been  done,  what  can  be  done. 

Benjamin  C.  Marsh, 

Organizing  Director. 


APPENDIX 


CONTAINING  THE  PAPERS  READ  BEFORE 
THE  PITTSBURGH  CONFERENCE  FOR 
GOOD  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


The  Criminal  Law  as  a  Means  to  Enforce  the 
People's  Will 

HON.  CHARLES  J.  BONAPARTE,  Baltimore 
President,  National  Municipal  League 

A  candidate  for  the  presidency,  in  his  speech  of  acceptance, 
declared  the  issue  of  the  late  National  election  to  be:  "Shall  the 
people  rule?"    As  with  many  other  sayings  of  men  prominent 
in  politics,  these  words  have  been  since  repeated 
Shall  the  on  innumerable  occasions,  admiringly  or  with 

People  Rule?  ridicule,  according  to  the  standpoint  of  the 
speaker  or  writer,  but  apparently  very  seldom 
with  any  clear  consciousness  of  their  meaning :  to  the  spellbinders 
on  either  side,  if  not  to  its  author,  the  phrase  seems  to  have  been 
a  matter  rather  of  sound  than  of  sense.  Nevertheless,  the  ques- 
tion is  pertinent  and  of  moment  in  our  country:  it  implies  at 
least  a  doubt  whether  our  form  of  government,  our  institutions 
and  our  laws  are  such  that  the  people's  will  is,  in  last  resort,  the 
decisive  factor  in  all  public  problems;  whether  with  us  the 
people  can  do,  at  all  times  and  everyTvhere,  what  the  people  may 
see  fit  to  do. 

In  dealing  with  this  question  we  must,  of  course,  remember 
that  when  a  sovereign  is  made  up  of  an  immense  multitude  of 
individuals  the  mere  ascertainment  and  expression  of  that 
sovereign's  will  is  necessarily  a  cumbrous  and  intricate  process: 
if  a  man  can  say  truthfully,  with  Louis  XIV:  "L'Etat  c'est 
Moi, "  one  finds  out  what  is  the  nation's  will,  or,  in  other  words, 
what  is  the  law,  by  merely  asking  him ;  if  his  answer  differs  from 
what  was  said  before  by  himself  or  by  an  earlier  prince  of  like 
powers,  the  Nation  has  simply  changed  its  mind,  the  old  law 
has  been  amended  or  repealed.  But  when  the  office  he  holds 
is  put  in  commission,  and  its  powers  are  entrusted  to  thousands, 

(137) 


138     LAW  AS  A  MEANS  TO  ENFORCE  THE  PEOPLE'S  WILL 

even  to  millions  of  citizens  equal  before  the  law,  it  takes  time 
and  eflfort  and  needs  much  complicated  legal  machinery  to  merely 
discover  and  pubUsh  what  is  the  people's  will,  to  formulate  the 
law  and,  when  needful,  to  change  it. 

Moreover,  we  must  not  forget  that,  ever  since  the  days  of  the 
Three  Tailors  of  Tooley  Street,  the  query:  "What  is"  or 
"Who  are  'the  People'?"  has  been  matter  of 
Who  are  the  debate  and  often  of  dispute;  and  that,  although 
People?  it  has  received,  for  practical  purposes,  many 

different  answers  in  different  countries  or  at 
different  times,  the  legal  "people,"  that  is  to  say  that  part  of 
the  community  empowered  by  law  to  speak  and  act  for  the 
whole,  has  been  always  and  everyTvhere  a  minority,  indeed 
a  decided  minority  of  all  the  human  beings  subject  to  that 
"people's"  will.  In  the  most  democratic  communities  the 
world  has  known,  political  power  has  ever  been  a  trust  and  the 
legal  rulers  a  minor  fraction  of  the  number  ruled. 

In  my  trespass  on  your  attention  this  evening,  I  shall  not 
trouble  you  with  any  discussion  of  either  of  the  two  topics  lastly 
mentioned.  Assuming  that  the  people's  will  has  been  definitely 
and  regularly  expressed  in  the  form  of  law,  how  may  the  people 
make  sure  that  this  will,  as  expressed,  shall  be  obeyed?  Or, 
in  other  words,  how  is  the  law  to  be  enforced?  For  any  fruitful 
consideration  of  this  subject  it  must  be  further  assumed  that,  in 
the  first  place,  obedience  to  law  is  essential  to  the  Ufe  of  civilized 
society  and,  secondly,  that,  to  assure  such  obedience,  compulsion 
in  some  form  is  indispensable :  passion  or  self-interest  will  always 
tempt  and  often  persuade  individuals  to  resist  or  evade  rules 
ordained  for  the  good  of  all. 

Neglecting  exceptional  contingencies,  it  may  be  said  that  the 
forms  of  compulsion  available  to  a  community  against  its 
rebelUous  members  are  limited  to  four,  namely 
Available  (i)  threats  of  supernatural  penalties,  (2)  social 

Forms  of  degradation,  (3)  the  exercise  of  military  or  quasi 

Compulsion  military  force,  and  (4)  punishment  through  the 
criminal  law.  Of  these  all  four  are  constantly 
and  extensively  employed  in  all  civilized  countries  at  the  present 
day,  and  it  may  be  doubted  whether  civilization,  as  we  know  it, 


CHARLES  J.  BONAPARTE 


139 


could  continue  to  exist  were  any  one  of  them  abandoned;  but 
only  the  last  two  are  within  the  sphere  of  political  and  legal 
action.  The  distinction  between  direct  exercise  of  public  force 
and  the  administration  of  criminal  law  appears  to  us  so  essential 
and  so  obvious  that  it  sounds  strange  to  say  the  latter  is  funda- 
mentally a  mere  highly  specialized  development  of  one  feature 
of  the  former.  Before  a  policeman  clubs  a  recalcitrant  tough 
or  an  officer  of  militia  orders  his  command  to  fire  on  a  mob,  each, 
as  the  representative  of  the  community,  must  be  satisfied  that 
the  prisoner  is  really  resisting  arrest  or  the  rioters  are  in  truth 
disturbing  the  public  peace  and  threatening  injury  to  persons 
or  property.  Before  a  murderer  shall  be  hung  or  a  burglar 
imprisoned  officers  empowered  to  that  end  must  be  satisfied 
that  he  is  truly  a  murderer  or  a  burglar.  The  question  to  be 
determined  is,  in  both  instances,  the  same,  namely,  whether  the 
necessity  has  in  fact  arisen  to  treat  certain  individuals  as  public 
enemies,  but  while,  in  the  one  case,  this  is  settled  by  simple 
inspection  on  the  part  of  the  executive,  in  the  other  the  process 
of  ascertaining  the  material  facts  has  been  with  us  expanded 
by  ancient  custom  and  many  statutes  into  an  elaborate  and 
intricate  system  of  jurisprudence,  containing  highly  artificial 
rules  of  procedure  and  proof  so  as  to  furnish  in  itself  a  subject  of 
study  of  no  little  difficulty. 

What  I  have  just  said  may  seem  to  some  open  to  criticism 
because  the  action  of  the  supposed  poUceman  or  militia  officer  is, 
in  purpose,  preventive,  while  that  of  a  criminal  court  is  punitory; 
this  distinction,  however,  is  of  the  surface.  Our  policeman  does 
not  aim  to  so  cripple  his  unruly  captive  that  the  latter  really 
cannot  struggle  longer;  if  this  happens,  it  is  from  accident  or 
sheer  necessity.  What  he  has  in  mind  is  to  teach  the  tough, 
through  the  persuasive  object-lesson  of  a  broken  head,  the  un- 
wisdom of  resistance  to  the  law.  So  the  colonel  or  captain  who 
clears  the  street  by  a  volley  has  no  wish  or  purpose  to  make  it 
physically  impossible,  through  death  or  wounds,  for  all  members 
of  the  mob  he  disperses  to  continue  their  disturbance  of  public 
order:  he  hopes,  and  usually  with  reason,  that  the  unpleasant 
but  wholesome  spectacle  of  one  rioter  lying  in  his  blood  may 
bring  back  ninety-nine  others  to  their  senses  and  the  obedience 


I40    LAW  AS  A  MEANS  TO  ENFORCE  THE  PEOPLE'S  WILL 


of  good  citizens.  On  precisely  the  same  principle,  a  man  found 
guilty  of  crime  is  punished  by  fine  or  imprisonment  or  death 
that  others  tempted  to  commit  a  like  crime  may  be  strengthened 
to  withstand  the  temptation,  and  likewise,  in  the  first  two  con- 
tingencies, that  he  too  may  be  the  wiser  another  time,  and,  in 
the  last,  that  he  may  be  made  harmless  for  the  future. 

The  legitimate  problems  of  the  criminal  law  are  therefore  two : 
first,  to  find  out  when  and  by  whom  the  people's  will,  that  is  to 
say,  the  law,  has  been  disobeyed ;  second,  to  so 
The  Problems  deal  with  the  one  guilty  of  such  disobedience 
of  the  that  others,  and  ordinarily  himself  as  well,  may 

Criminal  Law  be  taught  to  obey  in  future.  As  an  instrument  to 
these  ends,  I  think  American  criminal  law  today 
has  very  serious  defects,  in  fact  that,  in  a  large  measure,  it  fails 
of  its  purpose.  A  principal  cause  of  this  failure,  to  my  mind, 
is  its  anxiety  to  guard  against  a  danger  which  was  once  very 
serious,  but  has  now  become  remote  and  almost  chimerical:  I  mean 
the  danger  lest  men  really  innocent  be  convicted  of  crime.  Of 
all  the  many  applications  for  pardon  which  I  have  had  to  con- 
sider since  I  held  my  present  office,  only  an  infinitesimal  number, 
not  more  than  perhaps  a  half  dozen,  have  suggested  any  reason- 
able ground  to  even  doubt  the  prisoner's  guilt;  and  while,  of 
course,  a  possibility  of  error  must  always  attend  any  determina- 
tion of  the  human  mind,  the  risk  that  any  man  trying  in  good 
faith  to  obey  the  law  shall  be  punished  as  a  criminal  is  almost 
inconceivably  small :  I  question  whether  it  is  one-hundredth  part 
as  great  as  the  risk  he  runs  of  being  killed  or  mained  by  an  auto- 
mobile. Nevertheless,  I  would  not  have  the  law  so  changed  as 
to  remove  any  substantial  safeguard  of  true  innocence  which 
it  now  .'affords;  for,  however  slight  the  danger  of  unjust  con\-ic- 
tion  may  be  in  fact,  this  danger  appeals  so  strongly  to  the 
imagination  as  to  gravely  affect  human  happiness:  I  would,  how- 
ever, see  the  law  purged  of  various  obsolete  and  obstructive  rules 
of  procedure  or  proof  which,  in  practice,  serve  only  to  provide 
loopholes  of  escape  for  conscious  and  often  brazen  guilt. 

For  example,  I  think  grand  juries  should  not  be  abolished, 
for  to  a  man  of  good  repute,  it  may  be  a  grave  injury  to  be 
even  formally  accused  of  certain  crimes,  an  injury  which  a  sub- 


CHARLES  J.  BONAPARTE 


141 


sequent  acquittal  may  by  no  means  fully  repair  ;  and  it  may  well 

be  a  wise  precaution  that  twelve  out  of  twenty- 
Grand  Juries      three  of  his  fellow  citizens  should  say  the  charge 

against  him  is  credible  before  he  is  called  upon 
to  face  it.  But  the  practice  which  has  grown  up  in  certain 
jurisdictions  of  minutely  revising  the  action  of  grand  juries,  and 
quashing  indictments  because  evidence  technically  inadmissible 
was  submitted,  or  this  or  that  comparatively  trivial  matter  of 
form  was  inadvertently  neglected  before  the  grand  jury,  is,  to 
my  mind,  both  unreasonable  and  mischievous:  such  inquiries 
destroy  the  secrecy  of  the  grand  jury's  proceedings  and  enable 
guilty  men  to  delay,  too  often  to  defeat,  their  just  conviction  and 
merited  punishment;  they  have  no  practical  usefulness  and 
should  be  everywhere  forbidden  by  statute. 

Again,  no  one  would  have  a  man  once  fairly  and  properly  tried 
for  a  crime  and  either  convicted  or  acquitted  brought  to  trial 
again  for  the  same  offense :  -interest  rei  publicae  ut  sit  finis  litium, 
and  no  more  fitting  occasion  could  arise  for  the  application  of 
this  wise  and  salutary  maxim.  But  if  the  trial  has  been  unfair 
or  otherwise  improper,  whether  through  misconduct  of  the  jury 
or  error  of  the  judge,  it  is  the  dictate  of  common  sense  that  this 
miscarriage  should  be  duly  corrected  and  the  man  re-tried.  This 
can  be  and  is  daily  done  when  he  has  been  convicted ;  but  if  he 
has  been  acquitted,  no  matter  how  erroneously  and  with  what 
evident  injustice,  there  is  no  remedy,  because  of  an  old  and 
arbitrary  rule  against  what  is  called  "double  jeopardy, "  a  rule 
originating  under  circumstances  utterly  unlike  those  of  today 
and  which  has  been  generally  embodied  in  our  Constitutions  and 
statutes  to  the  great  profit  of  lawbreakers. 

The  common  law  of  England,  unlike  most  other  systems  of 
mediaeval  law,  never  sanctioned  torture,  whether  of  defendants 

or  witnesses.  In  this  the  common  law  showed 
The  Common  itself  both  wise  and  humane,  for  human  experi- 
Law  ence  has  shown  that  the  use  of  torture  tends, 

not  to  secure  but  to  hinder  the  discovery 
of  the  truth;  but,  by  reason  of  the  strong  and  reasonable  repug- 
nance thus  fostered  towards  confessions  and  testimony  extorted 
by  physical  pain,  there  grew  up  in  England  rules  against  admit- 


142     LAW  AS  A  MEANS  TO  ENFORCE  THE  PEOPLE'S  WILL 


ting  in  evidence  confessions  procured  under  highly  conventional 
duress  and  against  obliging  prisoners  to  incriminate  themselves, 
which  rules  in  America  have  crystallized  into  numerous  con- 
stitutional and  statutory  provisions,  and  these  have  been,  in 
turn,  so  construed  in  some  judicial  decisions  as  to  extend  the 
prohibitions,  in  my  judgment,  beyond  the  bounds  of  reason  and 
public  pohcy:  we  have  seen  convictions  set  aside  because  juries 
were  told  of  remarks  by  the  prisoner  made  under  no  obvious 
compulsion  and  which  contained  no  intelligible  admission  of 
guilt.  One  of  the  most  enlightened  changes  made  by  modern 
statutes  in  the  rules  of  evidence  permits  the  accused  to  testify 
in  his  own  behalf:  this  privilege  is  invaluable  to  an  innocent  man, 
and  it  is  therefore  simply  impossible  for  a  rational  mind  to  avoid 
an  unfavorable  opinion  as  to  the  probable  guilt  of  one  who  refuses 
to  avail  himself  of  it.  Yet  in  the  great  majority  of  our  States 
the  statute  law  gravely  requires  this  impossibihty  of  a  jury,  and 
even  obliges  the  court  to  so  instruct  them,  while  forbidding  the 
public  prosecutor  to  tell  them  what  everybody  knows  they  must 
think  anyhow. 

The  foregoing  criticisms  are  illustrative  only:  to  comment 
fully  on  all  those  peculiarities  of  our  modem  criminal  law  which 
are  helpful  to  "undesirable  citizens"  and  harmful  to  the  pubUc 
would  take  more  time  than  I  can  either  give  myself  or  ask,  in 
reason,  of  you;  but,  in  my  view,  its  gravest  and  least  excusable 
deficiency  is  found  in  its  endless  delays.  A  hotel  thief  recently 
attempted  to  rob  an  English  traveler  and  the  latter's  wife  at  a 
New  York  hotel.  He  was  captured  by  his  intended  victims  and, 
as  they  were  to  sail  for  their  home  within  some  thirty-six  hours. 
Dame  Justice,  for  once,  got  a  hustle  on  her.  A  single  day  saw 
the  culprit  committed,  indicted,  arraigned,  tried,  convicted  and 
sentenced;  and,  as  the  English  couple  started  down  the  harbor 
their  new  acquaintance  started  for  Sing  Sing.  If  this  was  done 
in  one  case,  why  cannot  something  Uke  it  be  done  in  any  case? 
Why  need  there  be  a  foretaste  of  eternity  between  arrest  and 
indictment,  another  between  indictment  and  trial,  yet  another 
between  trial  and  actual  punishment?  Partly  because  the  Bench 
and  professional  opinion  among  the  Bar  tolerate  all  kinds  of 
dilatory,  frivolous  and  often  ridiculous  proceedings  on  the  part 


CHARLES  J.  BONAPARTE 


143 


of  unscrupulous  counsel  intended  to  cheat  Justice  of  her  plain 
due;  partly  because  our  law  makers  afford  almost  infinite  facili- 
ties for  review  of  judicial  action  to  the  criminal,  although  very 
stingy  in  allowing  them  to  the  Government ;  mainly  because  our 
laws  show  little  sense  of  the  value  to  society  of  a  speedy  adminis- 
tration of  justice.  We  have  small  judicial  districts,  intermittent 
The  Law's  sessions  of  our  criminal  courts,  judges  some- 
times  overworked,  sometimes  indolent;  prose- 
cutors sometimes  overburdened  by  their  duties, 
sometimes  politicians  rather  than  lawyers.  All  this  makes  for 
delay,  and  all  that  makes  for  delay  makes  against  the  efficacy 
of  the  criminal  law.  When  Richard  III  exclaimed:  "Off  with 
his  head!  So  much  for  Buckingham!"  not  only  Buckingham 
himself,  but  all  who  had  ears  to  hear  the  words  and  eyes  to  see 
what  followed  them  knew  that  the  King  meant  business.  When 
the  people  of  an  American  State  or  the  American  Nation  decrees 
death  to  whomsoever  shall  do  thus  or  thus,  and  then  lets  the 
transgressor  live  for  months  and  years  while  lawyers  wrangle 
and  juries  disagree  and  judges  reverse  each  other,  there  is  room 
for  doubt,  and  doubt  in  fact,  whether  the  State  or  Nation  does, 
in  truth,  mean  business. 

Mere  lapse  of  time  is,  in  itself,  disastrous  to  that  righteous 
anger  which  bodes  ill  to  evil-doers.  While  the  memory  of  a 
crime  is  yet  fresh,  while  we  see  all  the  suffering  it  has  caused  and 
feel  how  base  and  wicked  is  the  criminal,  we  have  little  patience 
with  that  morbid  sympathy  which  would  blunt  the  sword  of 
Justice  and  rob  punishment  of  its  terrors.  But  when  years  have 
rolled  by  and  offense  and  offenders  are  alike  well-nigh  forgotten, 
grave  danger  exists  lest  in  the  ever-present  ocean  of  milk  and 
water  there  be  drowned  our  hatred  of  wrong-doing  and  our  pur- 
pose to  compel  obedience  to  the  people's  will. 

It  may  be  that  in  this  world  or  the  one  adjoining  to  the  nether- 
ward  one  could  find  some  criminal  so  odious  and  so  noxious  that 
none  will  ask  for  his  pardon;  but  I,  at  least,  know  of  none  such. 
That  sovereign  punishes  with  double  efficacy  and  triple  certainty 
who  punishes  while  the  crime  is  rank  and  recent. 

"Shall  the  people  rule?"  Yes,  if  and  insofar  as  the  people 
shall  be  in  earnest  in  the  wish  and  purpose  to  rule.    If  the  people 


144    LAW  AS  A  MEANS  TO  ENFORCE  THE  PEOPLE'S  WILL 

shall  demand  prompt  and  unquestioning  obedience  to  the  people's 
laws,  and  shall  give  to  this  demand  an  ample  sanction  in  swift, 
sure  and  grievous  retribution  for  all  rebellious  to  those  laws,  the 
people's  nile  will  be  real.  And  to  show  this  earnestness  of  pur- 
pose, to  assure  this  genuine  and  lasting  supremacy,  the  American 
people  must  thoroughly,  rationally  and  honestly  recast  its  crim- 
inal law. 


American  Municipal  Tendencies 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF,  Philadelphia 
Secretary,  National  Municipal  League 

In  response  to  a  recent  inquiry,  an  intelligent  and  thoughtful 
correspondent  in  a  middle  Western  capital  replied  in  regard 
to  the  Merchants  Association  there,  that  it  was  foimded  about 
a  dozen  years  ago  primarily  to  promote  excursions  to  benefit 
the  retail  trade.  After  that,  it  took  up  and  organized  a  credit 
system,  with  ratings  of  customers;  then  interested  itself  in  such 
matters  as  the  suppression  of  the  smallpox  epidemic  and  the 
elevation  of  railroad  tracks.  Next  it  organized  and  built  an 
independent  system  to  heat  and  light  the  business  portion  of  the 
city,  in  competition  with  the  old  company.  Finally,  however, 
it  was  stirred  up  by  the  revelation  of  outrageous  frauds  in  city 
and  county  business,  that  had  been  brought  to  the  surface  by 
small  and  weak  reform  organizations,  and  this  Association, 
backed  as  it  is  by  great  wealth  and  animated  by  a  growing 
patriotic  spirit,  has  undoubtedly  become  one  of  the  foremost 
reform  agencies  in  the  state. 

It  has  had  a  curious  evolution.  Six  or  eight  years  ago  when  a 
devoted  handful  of  public-spirited  men  were  spending  their 
time  and  money  to  oust  thieves  from  office  and 
Business  put  honest  men  in,  they  were  unable  to  do  more 

Bodies  than  obtain  patronizing  smiles  from  the  men 

and  the  Civic  composing  the  Merchants  Association.  Now, 
Awakening  however,  to  quote  my  correspondent:  "It  has 
been  baptized  as  by  fire,  and  they  are  feeling 
the  awakening  of  the  public  conscience  and  the  sense  of  respon- 
sibility now  prevailing  in  the  United  States. " 

The  Missouri  legislature,  composed  of  many  men  who  had  been 

(145) 


146  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


Stung  into  bitterness  and  vengefulness  by  the  keen  and  well- 
merited  criticisms  of  the  Kansas  City  Civic  League,  passed  a 
law  requiring,  among  other  things,  that  all  leagues,  committees, 
associations,  and  societies,  formed  for  the  purpose  of  investigat- 
ing the  character,  fitness  and  qualification  of  candidates  or 
nominees  for  public  office,  should  state  in  full  on  what  facts  they 
based  their  report  or  recommendation  and  give  the  names  and 
addresses  of  all  persons  furnishing  the  information  concerning  such 
candidates  or  nominees;  and  moreover  required  them  to  state  in  full 
the  information  so  furnished. 

This  legislation  was  directed  at  the  Kansas  City  League;  but 
generally  it  had  for  its  object  the  suppression  of 
Missouri's  all  such  organizations  as  sought,  like  the  Chicago 

Unsuccessful  Municipal  Voters'  League  and  kindred  bodies, 
Assault  on  to  lay,  in  a  dispassionate  way,  before  the  voters 
Free  Speech  of  their  respective  communities,  the  facts  con- 
cerning candidates  for  public  office. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  Missouri,  however,  upset  this  clumsily 
devised  scheme  to  throttle  free  speech,  declaring  that  statements 
or  communications,  "oral  or  written,  wanted  for  private  infor- 
mation, can  not  be  coerced  by  a  mere  legislative  mandate  at 
the  will  of  one  of  the  parties  against  the  will  of  the  other; 
compulsory  private  discovery,  even  from  corporations,  enforced 
not  by  suit  or  action  but  by  statutory  terror,  is  not  allow- 
able where  rights  are  under  guardianship  of  due  process  of 
law. " 

The  Court  held  the  Civic  League  Act  to  be  unconstitutional 
because  it  was  in  contravention  of  that  guaranty  of  the  Missouri 
constitution  that  "No  law  shall  be  passed  impairingthe  freedom 
of  speech;  and  every  person  shall  be  free  to  say,  write,  or  publish 
whatever  he  will,  on  any  subject,  being  responsible  for  all  abuse 
of  that  liberty."  Inasmuch  as  the  Act  transcended  the  power 
of  the  legislature,  which  is  confined  to  the  forbidding  of  blasphemy 
obscenity,  sedition,  or  defamation,  it  was  held  to  be  in  conflict 
with  the  constitution,  and  therefore  void. 

In  July  last,  at  a  time  when  the  trend  of  public  sentiment 
seemed  to  be  against  further  prosecution  of  the  San  Francisco 
grafters,  and  at  a  time  when  the  prosecution  had  been  subjected 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF  147 

to  the  grossest  sort  of  abuse  apparently  for  no  other  reason  than 
President  dared  to  do  its  duty  regardless  of  the 

Roosevelt  and  standing  or  position  of  the  men  charged  with 
the  San  Fran  crime,  the  President  of  the  United  States,  at 
Cisco  Prose  exact  psychological  moment,  wrote  to  Mr. 

cations  Rudolph  Spreckles,  who  had  been  the  main- 

stay of  District  Attorney  Langdon  in  his  fight 
against  iniquity  and  corruption,  declaring  in  his  letter  that: 

Now  and  then  you  and  Mr.  Heney  and  the  others  associated 
with  you  must  feel  down-hearted  when  you  see  men  guilty  of 
atrocious  crimes  who,  for  some  cause  or  other,  succeed  in  escap- 
ing punishment,  and  especially  when  you  see  men  of  wealth, 
of  high  business,  and,  in  a  sense,  of  high  social  standing,  banded 
together  against  you. 

My  dear  sir,  I  want  you  to  feel  that  your  experience  is  simply 
the  experience  of  all  of  us  who  are  engaged  in  this  fight.  There 
is  no  form  of  slander  and  wicked  falsehood  which  will  not  as  a 
matter  of  course  be  employed  against  all  men  engaged  in  such 
a  struggle. 

And  this  is  not  only  on  the  part  of  men  and  papers  repre- 
senting the  lowest  type  of  demagogy,  but,  I  am  sorry  to  say, 
also  on  the  part  of  the  men  and  papers  representing  the  interests 
that  call  themselves  preeminently  conservative,  preeminently 
cultured.    *    *  * 

You  must  battle  on  valiantly,  no  matter  what  the  biggest 
business  men  may  say,  no  matter  what  the  mob  may  say,  no 
matter  what  may  be  said  by  that  element  which  may  be  regarded 
as  socially  the  highest  element.    *    *  * 

The  most  powerful  ally  of  lawlessness  and  mob  violence  is 
the  man,  whoever  he  may  be,  politician  or  business  man,  judge 
or  lawyer,  capitalist  or  editor,  who  in  any  way  works  so  as  to 
shield  wealthy  and  powerful  wrong-doers  from  the  consequences 
of  their  misconduct.    *    *  * 

If  there  can  be  any  degree  in  the  contemptuous  abhorrence 
with  which  right-thinking  citizens  should  regard  corruption,  it 
must  be  felt  in  its  most  extreme  form  for  the  so-called  "best 
citizens,"  the  men  high  in  business  and  social  life,  who,  by  back- 
ing up  or  by  preventing  the  punishment  of  wealthy  criminals, 
set  the  seal  of  their  approval  upon  crime  and  give  their  honor 
to  rich  felons. 


Not  only  were  the  San  Francisco  workers  enheartened  and 
encouraged,  but  every  man  and  woman  interested  in  the  purg- 


148  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


ing  of  otir  municipalities  from  the  cancer  of  bribery  and  corrup- 
tion. The  San  Francisco  prosecutions  are  proceeding  without 
abatement;  pubUc  sentiment  is  rallying  to  the  support  of  the 
District  Attorney  and  his  assistant  Mr.  Heney  and  their  col- 
leagues; the  women  of  the  city  are  manifesting  their  interest  by 
daily  attendance  at  the  trial  of  the  former  boss  of  the  city;  and, 
as  throwing  some  Ught  upon  the  significance  and  importance 
of  their  presence,  we  have  only  to  note  the  efforts  that  are  being 
made  by  Mr.  Reuf's  counsel  to  exclude  them  from  the  court- 
room, and  to  wear  them  out  in  their  daily  attendance  by  weary- 
ing delays. 

Few  men  in  this  country  have  more  trenchantly,  successfully, 
or  persistently  exposed  mimicipal  corruption  in  all  its  various 
manifestations  than  Lincoln  Steffens.    A  despatch  from  Boston, 

however,  chronicles  the  fact  that  this  keen 
Steffens  and  observer  and  forceful  writer  is  now  staying  in 
Boston  that  city  in  order  to  make  careful  investigation 

and  study  of  what  he  calls  the  quiet  reform  that 
is  just  beginning  there.  He  is  not  looking  for  the  bad  things, 
although  not  altogether  overlooking  them :  his  particular  interest 
is  in  the  methods  followed  by  the  finance  commission  and  in  the 
various  movements  that  are  at  work  there,  qviietly  but  effectively, 
for  the  creation  of  higher  standards  of  municipal  conduct.  He 
has  offered  the  opinion  that  these  methods  will  prove  more 
effective  than  the  more  noisy  reforms  of  other  cities;  and  he 
further  expresses  himself  to  the  effect  that  the  people  at  large  in 
Boston  have  not  yet  awakened  to  the  reform  that  is  already  in 
progress  there. 

Last  spring  the  city  of  Grand  Rapids  had  a  revival,  as  it  was 
called — a  civic  revival — ^to  stir  up  the  people  of  that  community 
to  a  keener  realization  of  the  situation,  and  of  their  duty  and 
obUgation  to  improve  the  conditions  which  there  existed.  This 
revival,  as  one  chronicler  thereof  puts  it,  had  been  preceded  by 
years  of  patient  effort  that  prepared  the  groimd  for  the  sower; 
but,  nevertheless,  while  the  city  contained  a  large  number  of 
interested  and  public -spirited  citizens  able  and  willing  to  co- 
operate for  public  good,  beyond  them  there  seemed  to  be  a  thick 
and  apparently  impenetrable  wall  of  apathy  and  indifference. 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


149 


To  break  down  this  wall  the  revival  was  planned;  and  we  are 
told  that  the  wall  has  been  broken ;  and  while  the  parts  of  it  are 
still  standing,  the  breaches  in  it  are  too  wide  to  permit  of  its 

ever  being  made  whole  again.  The  revival  con- 
The  Grand  sisted  of  a  systematic  campaign  of  education 
Rapids  and  agitation.    The  newspapers  gave  generously 

Revival  of  their  space  to  bring  the  question  home  to  the 

people  of  the  city.  The  municipal  affairs  com- 
mittee of  the  board  of  trade,  which  took  a  leading  and  guiding 
part  in  the  work,  printed  and  distributed  thousands  of  circulars 
among  the  school  children.  It  addressed  letters  to  every  organ- 
ization in  the  city;  it  put  placards  in  the  shop  windows  and  in 
the  street  cars. 

All  of  this  was  antecedent  to  what  was  called  "revival  week," 
which  opened  far  from  auspiciously.  The  churches  in  which 
the  meetings  were  held  were  but  half  filled  on  the  first  two  even- 
ings; but  those  who  heard  Professor  Zueblin,  the  "revivalist," 
came  again  and  brought  others  with  them ;  and  then  the  audiences 
picked  up,  and  before  the  week  was  over,  there  was  not  room  to 
accommodate  more  than  a  third  of  those  who  wanted  to  come. 

The  immediate  object  of  the  campaign  was  to  secure  appro- 
priations from  the  local  legislature  for  some  much-needed  public 
improvements.  It  was  successful  in  this,  but  to  a  far  greater 
degree  than  was  anticipated  even  by  the  most  sanguine  advo- 
cate at  the  beginning.  The  greater  victory  lay  "in  arousing  the 
people  to  a  constructive  interest  in  their  city,  in  opening  their 
minds  to  the  fact  that  Grand  Rapids  is  their  common  heritage, 
through  the  development  of  which,  in  loyal  cooperation,  Ufe  for 
each  and  all  will  be  made  more  worth  the  living.  Clean  politics 
and  efficient  government,  instead  of  covering  all  the  field  of  a 
citizen's  duty,  are  now  recognized  as  covering  but  a  fraction  of 
it.  Added  to  the  task  of  being  a  good  citizen  on  election  day, 
is  that  of  being  a  good  neighbor  every  day." 

In  addressing  this  year's  convention  of  the  League  of  Iowa 
Municipalities,  Mayor  Phillips,  of  Ottumwa,  the  entertaining 
city,  declared:  "We  are  trying  to  give  our  city,  of  which  we  are 
proud,  a  good,  clean  and  economical  government;  and  in  our 
conferences  together  we  shall  gather  from  you,  and  by  the 


I50  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


experiences  of  our  sister  cities  of  the  state  in  every  way,  that 
which  shall  make  our  city  government  still  better."  For  three 
days  the  mayors  and  councilmen  of  the  Iowa  cities  (and  they 
are  a  goodly  number)  counselled  together  how  to  improve  mvmici- 
pal  conditions  and  methods  in  that  state;  and  what  was  done  in 
Iowa  by  municipal  officials  was  done  in  a  dozen  other  states  by 
the  municipal  officials  therein,  to  the  end  that  a  wider  degree  of 
public  interest  on  the  part  of  those  charged  with  the  duty  of 
administering  municipal  affairs,  has  been  awakened,  and  higher 
standards  of  efficiency  established. 

These  instances,  unrelated  and  uncorrelated  though  they  are, 
have  a  deep  and  underlying  connection,  in  that  they  are  the 
siu-face  manifestations  of  a  swiftly  moving  current  or  tendency 
in  American  municipal  life.  They  are  the  straws,  if  you  please, 
which  show  how  the  tide  is  moving ;  they  indicate  how  the  people 
of  this  country  are  waking  up  to  their  municipal  duties  and 
obligations,  and  how  they  are  striving  to  meet  them  intelligently 
and  successfully.  They  are  not  the  only  manifestations  to  be 
noted;  but  they  are  typical  of  a  great  mass  of  them,  all  interest- 
ing, all  suggestive,  and  all  indicative  of  a  spirit  in  American  life 
which  is  working  mightily  for  an  improvement  of  those  condi- 
tions which,  only  a  few  years  ago,  were  regarded,  and  very  prop- 
erly so,  as  a  serious  menace  to  the  continuance  of  democratic 
institutions  in  our  country. 

No  small  part  of  the  gravity  of  the  American  mimicipal  situ- 
ation is  due  to  the  growing  complexity  of  the 
Complexity  of    life  of  the  city  and  the  rapidly  increasing  func- 
City  Life  tions  which  it  is  called  upon  to  discharge.  Some 

idea  of  the  extent  of  the  municipal  problem, 
from  the  pectmiary  and  financial  side,  may  be  gathered  by  a 
study  of  the  figures  collated  and  reported  by  the  Bureau  of  the 
Census,  which  has  been  a  potent  factor  in  giving  to  students  the 
data  and  material  upon  which  to  form  reasonably  sound  conclu- 
sions as  to  recent  tendencies  and  developments.*  The  intelli- 
gence and  thoroughness  with  which  these  statistics  have  been 

'  I  am  indebted  to  a  report  prepared  by  J.  W.  Howard,  C.E.,  for  the 
American  Society  of  Municipal  Improvement,  for  the  totals  and  general 
averages  herein  set  forth. 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


gathered  and  reported,  constitute  a  very  important  and  strik- 
ing phase  of  recent  municipal  development. 

And  I  must  pause  here  to  pay  a  just  tribute  to  the  work  which 
has  been  done  by  the  federal  government  during  the  present 
administration  not  only  in  disseminating  correct  information 
concerning  municipal  conditions,  but  in  promoting  intelligent 
and  effective  action  on  the  part  of  officials.  On  more  than  one 
occasion  the  Census  Bureau  has  called  together  the  accounting 
and  fiscal  officers  of  the  country  to  confer  as  to  the  ways  and 
means  of  improving  local  accounts  and  general  reports;  and  the 
National  Municipal  League  has  had  no  more  helpful  coadjutor 
in  the  work  of  formulating  and  promulgating  the  schedules  of 
uniform  accounting  and  reporting  than  the  Census  Bureau  and 
its  pubUc-spirited  officials. 

Taking  the  statistics  of  148  American  cities  having  30,000 
inhabitants  and  more,  from  1902  to  1906  and 
Increase  of  as  estimated  for  1907,  we  find  that  the  per  capita 
Receipts  and  municipal  receipts  for  1902  had  increased  from 
Expenditures  $16.10  in  1902  to  $17.98  in  1907,  or  from  a 
total  of  $328,509,429  in  1902  to  one  of  $420,- 
637,500  in  1907.  In  the  matter  of  expense,  the  per  capita  of 
expenditures  has  increased  from  $13.36  in  1902  to  $14.90  in 
1907,  or  from  $272,616,313  to  $343,711,052. 

From  the  same  authority  we  learn  that  during  the  past  five 
years  the  representative  cities  of  the  country  have  collected 
from  the  people  an  increasing  amount  of  money  per  capita  each 
year  (at  the  rate  of  1 7  cents  extra  an  inhabitant  per  year)  forming 
a  grand  total  of  $18,600,000  per  annum. 

The  income  received  from  liquor  licenses  has  paid  the  largest 
share,  the  per  capita  increase  being  from  $1.30  in  1902  to  $1.71 
in  1907,  or  from  $26,183,285  in  1902  to  $39,318,000  in  1907.  In 
this  connection  it  is  interesting  and  suggestive  to  note  that  while 
there  has  been  an  increase  in  the  total  amounts  appropriated  for 
police,  fire,  charities  and  correction  departments,  the  amounts 
so  appropriated  represent  the  same  relative  proportion  of  the 
whole  in  1902  as  in  1907.  The  increase  in  the  cost  of  schools 
has  been  from  $3.69  to  $4.39  per  capita  in  five  years,  or  at  an 
average  rate  of  increase  of  14  cents  a  year.    The  total  increase 


152  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


has  been  about  $5,122,000  a  year  and  represents  about  29.6 
per  cent  of  the  increase  in  city  expenses. 

The  total  net  debt  of  these  148  cities  at  the  end  of  1906  reached 
the  enormous  sum  of  $1,385,841,497.  The  total  population  of 
these  cities  was  22,907,690:  so  that  the  per  capita  debt  was 
$60.54,  which  represents  an  increase  of  23.1  per  cent  over  the 
$49.16  per  capita  debt  of  1902.  When  we  compare  this  enor- 
mous municipal  indebtedness  borne  by  22,907,690  people  with 
the  federal  indebtedness  of  $964,435,687  (or  $11.46  per  capita) 
borne  by  84,154,000  people,  we  are  astounded  and  overwhelmed 
by  the  immensity  of  the  problem  and  the  amount  involved. 

These  highly  suggestive  figures  add  point  to,  and  bring  into 

Bureau  of         sharp  relief  the  need  for,  the  work  which  has 

.  .  been  inaugurated  with  such  distinguished  suc- 

_         ,  cess  by  the  New  York  Bureau  of  Municipal 

Research  1 
Research . 

Comptroller  Metz,  of  New  York  City,  recently  gave  out  a 
summary  of  reasons  for  the  reorganization  from  top  to  bottom 
of  New  York's  department  of  finance.  Although  this  criticism, 
prepared  by  the  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research,  was  characterized 
as  "the  severest  arraignment  of  city  methods  ever  pubUshed," 
the  comptroller  admitted  its  truth  and  declared  his  intention  to 
adopt  the  suggestions  for  reorganization. 

Thirty-four  reasons  were  given,  in  this  statement,  why  the 
city  of  New  York  could  not  at  present  tell  what  it  owes,  what 
is  owing  to  it,  whether  moneys  collected  are  paid  in,  which  depart- 
ments are  neglected  and  which  are  extravagant.  These  reasons 
were  given  in  short,  graphic  sentences;  and  accotmting  terms 
were  explained  by  illustration.  For  example,  it  illustrated  the 
reason  for  inspecting  goods  before  they  are  consumed  by  citing 
the  incident  of  a  milk  dealer  who  secured  a  contract  by  a  low 
bid.  After  the  commissioner  of  charities  had  rejected  several 
lots  of  milk  as  being  below  the  standard  guaranteed  by  the  con- 
tract, the  dealer  asked  to  be  released  from  his  contract  because 
'*he  had  not  looked  for  such  inspection."  To  quote  the  lan- 
guage of  the  bureau,  "he  had  looked  for  inspection  of  bills,  not 
of  milk. " 

As  the  bureau  pertinently  points  out,  New  York  differs  from 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


153 


one  hundred  other  American  cities  in  the  large  figures  in  which 
its  stor>  must  be  told,  rather  than  in  the  number  or  character  of 
defects  in  its  business  methods.  It  recalled  that,  within  a  few 
days  of  the  issuance  of  this  statement,  New  Rochelle  had  ad- 
mitted a  deficit  of  $305,000,  one-third  of  which  was  illegally 
diverted;  while  Holyoke,  Mass.,  had  discovered  that  it  had  been 
paying  $30.00  for  2  countersinks  costing  45  cents;  $36.00  for 
12  tri-squares  which  ordinarily  would  cost  $3.05;  $12.00  for 
an  88  cent  oilstone,  and  so  on. 

The  scope  and  effectiveness  of  the  Bureau's  activities  is  best 
demonstrc  ted.  by  a  brief  statement  of  what  has  been  accom- 
plished since  it  was  organized.  In  July  the  commissioners  of 
accounts  of  New  York  City  handed  to  Mayor  McClellan  the 
results  of  their  investigations  into  the  Bronx 
New  York's  Borough  affairs.  The  sequel  is  that  a  third 
Borough  borough  president  stands  accused  of  the  gravest 

Presidents  abuses  of  office.    New  York  has  five  borough 

presidents,  which  are  offices  of  great  power  and 
dignity.  Of  these  five,  one  had  fled  abroad  under  fire  and 
publicly  accused  of  malfeasance  graver  than  that  charged  against 
either  of  the  others  mentioned;  one  has  been  removed  by  the 
governor  of  the  state,  only  to  be  reelected  by  a  shameless  and 
brazen  board  of  aldermen;  a  third  has  resigned. 

Within  two  years  New  York  has  been  committed  to  the  policy 
of  annual  budgets  that  will  clearly  show  for  what  purpose  money 
is  voted  and  will  prevent  the  use  of  funds  for  purposes  other 
than  those  mentioned  in  the  budget ;  to  a  method  of  accounting 
that  will  tell  the  truth,  instead  of  a  method  that  does  not  tell 
the  truth ;  to  service  records  that  will  put  a  premium  on  official 
honesty,  where  present  methods  put  a  premium  on  dishonesty 
and  inefficiency,  and  to  the  reorganization  from  top  to  bottom 
of  a  central  comptrolling  office  known  as  the  department  of 
finance;  to  documentary  evidence  everywhere  that  will  definitely 
locate  responsibility  for  malfeasance,  or  for  incompetency,  and 
will  make  officials  certifying  to  false  statements  criminally  liable. 

Moreover,  the  Bureau  has  organized  a  budgetary  exhibit, 
which  shows  in  striking  contrast  what  the  city  gets  and  should 
get  in  the  matter  of  supplies.    Among  the  transactions  which 


154  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


it  has  brought  to  light  in  this  connection,  is  one  involving  the 
purchase  of  165  hooks,  172  bolts  and  180  screws.  The  price  of 
a  hook  in  any  shop  in  New  York  is  6  cents;  the  price  of  a  bolt 
is  5  cents;  the  city  bought  165  hooks,  172  bolts  and  180  screws 
for  $117.00.  To  put  up  165  hooks  the  city  employed  2  work- 
men, who  took  31  days  to  finish  the  job  and  were  paid  $248.00 
for  their  labor.  The  total  cost  of  materials  and  labor  was 
$365.10,  or  $2.21  a  hook.  The  hooks  were  the  ordinary  wire 
coat-hooks  to  be  found  in  almost  any  place  of  business.  The 
Bureau  of  Municipal  Research  sets  forth  this  transaction  under 
the  striking  caption  of  "Getting  the  Hook."  Certainly,  a  more 
suggestive  one  could  scarcely  have  been  devised.  When  in  ten 
years,  as  the  New  York  Tribune  points  out,  the  annual  expendi- 
tures of  the  city  have  increased  from  $95,000,000  to  $155,000,000, 
it  is  clear  that  the  taxpayers  are  "getting  the  hook"  with  a 
vengeance,  and  that  a  political  machine  and  its  allies  and  bene- 
ficiaries are  getting  enormous  spoils  through  corrupt  and  fraudu- 
lent methods. 

This  new  idea  of  municipal  reform,  or  perhaps  one  ought  to 
say  this  new  applic'ation  of  old  ideas  to  the  improvement  of 
municipal  conditions,  is  being  rapidly  adopted  in  a  number  of 
cities,  some  of  which  have  specifically  requested  not  to  have  their 
names  mentioned  in  connection  with  this  statement;  as  they  do 
not  wish  to  dividge  the  fact  of  their  study  and  investigation  until 
they  are  ready  to  publish  the  results.  The  significant  thought 
is,  that  there  is  a  growing  desire  to  secure  exact  and  definite 
information  upon  which  to  base  indictments;  which  is  bound  to 
prove,  in  the  long  mn,  a  far  more  effective  method  of  bringing 
about  real  reformi  than  an  unlimited  indulgence  in  indiscriminate 
abuse  and  vituperation. 

Boston  has  been  approaching  the  same  set  of  problems  by  a 
som^ewhat  different  way.  Under  the  administration  of  Mayor 
Fitzgerald  a  finance  commission  was  appointed, 
The  Boston  at  the  suggestion  of  some  public-spirited  men,  to 
Finance  investigate  the  conditions  prevailing  in  that  city. 

Commission  It  was  expected  that  the  set  of  men  that  were 
appointed  would  make  a  perfunctory  examina- 
tion of  affairs,  and  an  equally  perfunctory  report,  with  a  few 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


155 


general  and  (from  the  administration's  standpoint)  harmless 
recommendations.  The  results  were  far  different  than  what  was 
anticipated.  As  the  Boston  Good  Government  League  has 
pointed  out,  morning,  noon  and  night,  month  after  month, 
with  a  splendid  and  untiring  devotion  the  seven  members  of  the 
commission  have  examined  the  business  of  the  city  of  Boston. 
While  all  the  results  have  not  thus  far  been  made  public,  yet 
sufficient  have  been  disclosed  amply  to  justify  the  work  and  the 
money  expended.  Not  the  least  important  of  the  results  was 
the  defeat  of  Mayor  Fitzgerald  and  his  corrupt  and  strongly 
entrenched  machine. 

In  August,  1907,  the  commission  pointed  out  that  a  loan  of 
$300,000  for  the  extension  of  water  mains  was  unnecessary, 
because  the  surplus  income  from  the  water  rates  and  other 
sources  was  almost  sufficient  to  do  all  the  work  required,  and 
that  at  the  most  only  $75,000  more  was  needed.  Later,  it 
reviewed  in  detail  a  loan  bill  of  $1,584,500  passed  by  the  city 
council  and  showed  that  items  amounting  to  $536,000  were  not 
only  unnecessary  but  highly  objectionable  and  should  be  repealed. 
It  called  attention  to  the  impropriety  of  enlarging  the  local 
cemetery  at  an  excessive  cost,  and,  further,  that  the  board  of 
health  had  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  such  enlargement 
would  be  a  menace  to  the  city's  water  supply.  It  reported  in 
detail  on  the  department  of  weights  and  measures,  showing 
gross  inefficiency  and  excessive  cost.  It  reported  that  the  cost 
of  the  collector's  office  could  be  reduced  from  $160,000  to  $120,- 
000  without  loss  of  efficiency.  It  showed  in  detail,  by  means  of 
public  hearings,  that  contracts  had  been  let  and  supplies  pur- 
chased without  proper  competition,  and  at  excessive  prices, 
the  excess  ranging  all  the  way  from  25  per  cent  to  100  per  cent,  a 
somewhat  more  modest  rate  of  excess  than  that  prevailing  in 
the  sister  city  of  New  York. 

It  estimated  the  probable  saving  to  the  city,  on  purchases  of 
coal  alone,  to  be  $100,000,  if  proper  business  methods  were 
employed.  It  reported  on  the  health  department,  showing 
inefficiency  and  undue  cost  owing  to  political  influence.  It 
advised  the  repeal  of  an  ordinance,  passed  three  years  ago, 
spHtting  up  the  street  department  into  seven  parts  or  bureaus 
and  advised  a  reconsolidation. 


156  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


To  quote  from  the  summing  up  of  the  Good  Government 
League,  there  is  Uttle  reason  to  doubt  that  the  report  of  the 
finance  commission  will  throw  a  searchlight  on  innumerable 
instances  of  waste  and  inefficiency  in  city  administration.  More- 
over, convincing  proof  will  be  forthcoming,  as  never  before,  that 
thousands  of  dollars  could  be  annually  saved  without  diminish- 
ing the  services  rendered  to  the  public.  Moreover,  not  only  will 
Boston  learn  that  these  savings  can  be  effected;  but,  thanks  to 
the  apparently  inexhaustible  patience  of  the  commassion,  it  will 
learn  in  detail  just  how  and  where  this  saving  can  be  made. 

Enough  has  been  done  abundantly  to  convince  the  public  of 
the  existence  of  grave  abuses  wherever  politics  have  crept  into 
departments ;  and  they  seem  to  have  crept  into  them  practically 
everywhere.  Not  only  has  their  existence  been  shown,  but  they 
have  been  laid  bare  in  all  their  hideous  and  revolting  detail, 
and  the  extent  of  the  moral  and  material  injury  done  by  them 
has  been  brought  home  to  the  pubHc  mind. 

Great  honor  and  credit  must  be  given  to  the  men  who  have 
given  so  long  and  so  freely  and  so  effectively  of  their  time  to 
achieve  this  result;  and  yet,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  the  public 
may  soon  forget  how  a  saving  is  to  be  effected  in  one  place,  and 
how  in  another:  few  may  remember  which  department  is  at 
fault,  or  what  remedy  is  suggested ;  but,  as  the  League  pertinently 
points  out,  one  central  fact  will  remain  in  the  mind  of  the  public, 
and  will  sink  in  and  will  germinate  and  will  bear  fruit  in  the 
future  and  will  make  for  that  reform  the  beginnings  of  which 
Lincoln  Steffens  has  already  noted,  namely:  the  fact  that  there 
were  men  in  the  community  with  the  abiUty,  the  experience, 
the  patience  to  grasp,  to  analyze,  to  make  plain  to  the  average 
man  the  business  of  a  city,  and  the  further  fact  that  those  now 
in  public  office  are  not  capable  of  this,  or  hold  office  vmder  such 
conditions  that  they  do  not  or  will  not  do  it. 

The  report  of  the  finance  commission  will  show  how  the  city's 
business  can  be  and  ought  to  be  managed.  Will  it  show  how 
the  men  are  to  be  put  in  charge  who  can  and  will  run  it  in  this 
way?  This  is  one  of  the  big  problems  with  which  Boston  will 
have  to  grapple;  and  if  she  can  solve  it  successfully,  it  will  be 
for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  country,  as  well  as  for  its  own. 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


157 


As  I  have  on  more  than  one  occasion  in  other  annual  reviews 
pointed  out,  there  is  no  golden  rule  to  municipal  reform;  there 
is  no  one  panacea  that  will  solve  the  difficulties  and  complexities  of 
the  situation :  the  problem  is  too  big,  is  too  perplexing,  is  too  com- 
plex to  yield  to  simple  remedies.  It  requires  the  constant  thought 
and  best  attention  of  public-spirited  men,  day  in  and  day  out,  with 
an  eye  single  to  the  public  good,  to  produce  even  a  small  measure 
of  improvement.  The  great  value  of  work  that  the  Bureau  of 
Municipal  Research  and  the  Boston  finance  commission  have 
done  and  are  doing,  is,  that  they  are  bringing  home  to  the  people 
of  their  respective  communities  the  truth  concerning  their  local 
conditions  in  a  way  that  they  cannot  escape  it,  bringing  home  to 

them  their  personal  duty  and  responsibility 
Information  in  the  premises.  Once  the  American  people 
Succeeding  are  aroused  on  this  subject,  once  they  take 
Vituperation      hold,  the  ways  and  means  for  working  out  the 

improvement  will  not  be  liard  to  find. 
In  the  meantime  it  is  highly  important  that  every  effort  be 
made  to  gather  concise  and  accurate  information  bearing  upon 
the  actual  condition  of  affairs;  for  we  are  passing  out  of  the  era 
of  general  denunciation  into  that  of  more  exact  statement  and 
information. 

To  Massachusetts  belongs  the  credit  of  establishing  the  first 
state  division  or  bureau  of  municipal  statistics.  The  first 
volume  of  statistics  has  been  issued;  and  while  considerable 
difficulty  has  been  experienced  in  unifying  and  classifying  the 
returns,  nevertheless  the  report  represents  a  distinct  forward 
step.  Already  the  work  has  had  a  beneficial  effect;  at  it  has 
resulted  in  a  number  of  cities  reconstructing  their  accounts  on 
a  sounder  and  more  substantial  basis.  The  plan  of  uniformity 
suggested  by  Chief  Gettemy,  who  has  had 
Municipal  charge  of  the  work,  is  wholly  commendable; 
Statistics  and  while  its  adoption  may   involve  some 

temporary  inconvenience  to  the  local  govern- 
ments, it  will  eventually  result  in  establishing  standards  of 
comparison  that  will  be  for  the  benefit  of  all  concerned. 

Among  the  interesting  facts  disclosed  in  the  first  year's  volume, 
are  to  be  noted:  first,  that  there  is  almost  entire  lack  of  system 


158  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


in  handling  the  receipts  and  disbursements  of  the  several  cities 
and  towns  of  the  state.  In  many  instances  the  financial  trans- 
actions of  the  community  are  handled  by  a  number  of  officers 
instead  of  by  a  single  responsible  official.  It  is  quite  likely  that 
as  a  result  of  the  report  there  will  be  an  effort  made  to  secure 
reform  in  this  direction,  as  also  in  the  further  point  of  having 
the  fiscal  years  uniform.  Now  only  about  a  third  of  the  towns 
and  cities  end  their  fiscal  year  on  December  3 1 .  The  others  are 
closed  at  different  times  during  the  calendar  year.  ' 

In  the  second  place,  many  defects  in  the  treasurers'  methods 
of  accounting  have  been  disclosed.  The  need  for  the  consolida- 
tion of  the  administration  of  trust  funds  has  been  made  equally 
obvious.  The  report  points  out  that  in  many  instances  money 
left  to  the  community  for  special  purposes  had  been  used  by 
the  town  trustees  for  general  purposes;  because  it  was  felt  that 
the  fund  was  one  which  would  never  have  to  be  repaid;  and  in 
some  instances  there  was  not  even  any  evidence  that  it  was  a 
debt  or  obligation  against  the  town. 

Chief  Gettemy,  who  was  responsible  for  the  gathering  and 
reporting  of  the  statistics,  concludes  his  report  by  saying  that 

The  first  year's  labor  of  the  Bureau  in  this  important  field 
has  been  largely  in  the  nature  of  missionary  work,  and  has 
resulted  in  arousing  a  genuine  interest  throughout  the  Common- 
wealth in  systematic  and  comparable  methods  of  municipal 
accounting.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  be  able  to  report  that  the  local 
officials  have,  as  a  rule,  shown  a  cordial  willingness  to  comply 
with  the  requirements  of  the  law;  and  when  the  purpose  of  the 
act  has  been  explained,  and  the  desirabihty  of  keeping  their 
accounts  in  a  systematic,  business-like,  and,  so  far  as  possible, 
uniform  manner  has  been  pointed  out,  they  have  shown  a  warm 
interest  in  the  subject.  *  *  *  A  substantial  beginning  has 
unquestionably  been  made  in  a  great  reform." 

The  movement  for  imiform  accounting  proceeds  without 
interruption.    As  was  pointed  out  in  the  Massachusetts  report, 

the  organized  effort  toward  this  end,  originating 
Uniform  with  the  National  Municipal  League,  was  given 

Accounting        momentum  by  the  Bureau  of  the  Census  at 

Washington,  and  was  accelerated  by  the  action 
of  Ohio  in  passing  a  law  which  provided  for  the  systematic 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


159 


standardization  of  municipal  financial  reports,  and  by  the  action 
of  the  Massachusetts  legislature  in  inaugurating  a  similar  work  in 
that  state  under  the  bureau  of  statistics,  the  first  results  of  which 
are  presented  in  the  volume  just  mentioned. 

Accounting  investigations  and  reforms  are  being  made  the 
basis  for  an  approach  to  the  solution  of  important  problems  in 
Boston  and  New  York,  as  has  already  been  noted,  and  are  being 
utiUzed  to  the  same  end  in  Minneapohs,  where  a  comprehensive 
effort  is  being  made  to  secure  results  similar  to  those  already 
achieved  in  the  East.  The  point  of  attack  in  that  city  has  been 
the  administration  of  the  school  funds,  which  seems  to  have  been 
particularly  inadequate  and  inefficient.  A  special  grand  jury 
that  has  been  considering  the  whole  question  there,  reports 
that  it  has  foimd  "a  startUng  and  deplorably  loose  state  of 
affairs. "  In  dealing  with  the  school  board,  the  grand  jtiry  in  a 
formal  report  criticised  not  only  the  members  of  the  board  of 
education  and  their  employees,  but  the  American  Book  Com- 
pany and  its  local  agent,  and  arraigned  them  for  their  connec- 
tion with  the  existing  condition  of  affairs. 

Although  in  the  judgment  of  those  quaUfied  to  express  an 
opinion  there  has  not  been  so  much  rascaUty  as  incompetence 
in  the  management  of  the  affairs,  nevertheless,  as  the  Minneapolis 
Journal  points  out,  the  showing  that  has  been 
The  made  as  to  the  unbusinesslike  and  wasteful 

Minneapolis  methods,  to  use  no  stronger  terms,  must  arouse 
Scandal  indignation.    In  a  department  expending  an- 

nually a  milUon  and  a  half  dollars,  and  entrusted 
with  the  conduct  of  "that  dearest  of  our  institutions,  the  public 
school  system,"  carelessness  and  confusion  reign.  Meager  and 
inaccurate  records  are  kept ;  text-books,  billed  at  inflated  prices, 
are  paid  for  without  investigation  or  check;  the  whole  matter 
having  apparently  been  turned  over  by  the  committee  nominally 
in  charge  to  the  secretary  of  the  board,  who  is  now  under  indict- 
ment. Provisions  of  the  state  law  requiring  text-book  prices 
to  be  filed  with  the  state  superintendent,  have  been  ignored  for 
years.  These  are  a  few  of  the  sample  abuses  which  have  been 
brought  to  light  through  the  grand  jury's  investigation,  which 
in  turn  was  inaugurated  as  a  result  of  an  investigation  begun 


l6o  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


under  the  auspices  of  certain  public-spirited  citizens  and  carried 
on  by  some  of  the  trained  investigators  who  had  been  at  work 
in  unearthing  similar  conditions  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  and 
especially  in  San  Francisco. 

Wilmington  reports  that  during  the  past  year  there  has  been 
a  careful  and  thoroughgoing  examination  of  the  accounts  of  that 
city.  The  result  is,  that  there  has  been  presented,  for  the  first 
time,  to  the  taxpayers  of  the  city,  a  reliable  statement  of  the 
actual  condition  of  the  city's  finances;  and  it 
Wilmington's  is  confidently  expected  that  the  disclosures 
Accounts  will  result  in  remedial  legislation  at  the  next 

session  of  the  legislature. 

So  the  good  work  of  investigation  and  publicity  goes  steadily 
forward.  The  people  are  being  educated  as  to  the  exact  facts 
and  are  being  aroused  to  take  steps  not  only  to  correct  present 
abuses,  but  to  prevent  their  recurrence  in  the  future.  As  Dr. 
Allen,  who  has  been  an  efficient  leader  in  the  work  of  the  Bureau 
of  Municipal  Research,  has  pointed  out  in  another  connection. 

Social  service  by  private  agencies  can  never  catch  up  with 
the  antisocial  service  of  any  municipal  government  that  tolerates 
an  inadequate  health  policy,  or  inefficient  health,  street-cleaning 
and  housing  administration.  The  inefficient  administration  of 
American  cities  is  every  year  doing  more  injury  to  home,  char- 
acter and  industry  than  does  alcohol,  the  social  evil,  or  gambling. 
Improper  methods  of  making  city  budgets  produce  more  ine- 
qualities of  character,  wealth  and  opportunity  in  a  year  than 
churches,  schools  and  philanthropies  together  will  remove  in  a 
decade  unless  directly  related  to  government  agencies.  Private 
social  service  is  most  productive  when  it  creates  and  strengthens 
public  social  service,  when  it  aims  to  insure  efficient  government 
and  to  prevent  inefficient  government  from  needlessly  burden- 
ing philanthropist  and  taxpayer  and  from  obstructing  education 
and  religion. 

As  a  part  of  the  movement  to  place  citizens  in  possession  of 
more  exact  information  concerning  municipal  affairs  must  be 
noted  the  establishment  of  municipal,  legislative  and  reference 
bureaus  in  a  number  of  the  cities.  These  are  intended,  as  one 
of  the  Chicago  advocates  of  their  establishment  points  out,  to 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


i6i 


keep  the  municipality  in  touch  with  municipal  activities  through- 
out the  world.    As  it  is  now,  according  to  Alderman  Foreman, 

committees  have  to  hire  high-priced  experts  to  learn  what  other 
cities  have  done  and  then  accept  their  state- 
Legislative         ments  as  gospel.    We  should  have  the  results  of 
Reference  New  York's  experience  in  building  the  subway, 

Bureaus  ^^'^       New  York  Central's  experience  in  elec- 

trifying its  lines.  We  are  going  to  install  a 
high-pressure  water  system.  New  Orleans  is  doing  it  in  one  way 
and  New  York  in  another.  This  department  or  municipal  bureau 
of  information  should  watch  both,  and  be  prepared  to  give  the 
aldermen  the  results  of  both  experiences. 

Chicago,  the  alderman  points  out,  is  on  the  threshold  of  an 
era  of  public  improvement  which  will  call  for  the  most  intelli- 
gent direction  from  the  city  government;  and  the  cost  of  the 
proposed  bureau  will  be  but  a  mere  bagatelle  compared  with 
the  saving  which  it  can  accomplish  for  the  taxpayers  if  it  shall 
be  competently  conducted.  The  same  is  substantially  true  of 
every  other  municipal  community  in  our  land;  and  we  may 
expect,  within  the  next  half-dozen  years,  to  find  a  series  of 
similar  bureaus  established  in  all  the  leading  cities,  gathering 
for  their  respective  municipalities  information  concerning  im- 
provements; and,  moreover,  we  may  expect  a  further  develop- 
ment, in  that  all  these  several  bureaus  and  libraries  will  be  so 
coodinated,  each  with  the  other,  as  to  form  a  strong  chain  of 
information  that  will  banish  from  the  halls  of  legislation  and 
the  offices  of  administration  the  dense  ignorance  that  all  too 
frequently  in  the  past  has  found  a  welcome  lodgment  therein. 

Charter  making  and  charter  reformation  continue  to  occupy  a 
large  and  increasingly  conspicuous  part  in  the  various  efforts 
of  leading  American  municipalities  to  secure  better  and  more 
efficient  government.  Wherever  we  find  a  good  government 
club,  a  municipal  league,  or  a  civic  federation,  there  we  are  almost 
certain  to  find  some  endeavor  to  secure  either  an  entirely  new 
charter,  or  the  adoption  of  amendments  to  existing  charters 
needed  to  institute  those  reforms  which  are  believed  to  be,  or 
which  are  considered  to  be,  essential  and  fundamental. 

There  are  several  tendencies  in  charter  making  which  are  to 
be  noted.    In  the  first  place,  there  is  a  marked  growth  of  senti- 


l62  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


ment  in  favor  of  a  larger  measure  of  local  independence  or  home 
rule.  Our  cities  are  subjected  to  a  degree  of  legislative  buffeting 
that  has  well  nigh  destroyed  the  cherished  idea 
Charter  of  self-government.    The  charter  commission 

Making  appointed  in  New  York  in  1907  by  Governor 

Tendencies  Hughes,  asked — What  should  be  the  relation 
between  the  city  and  the  state?  What  should 
be  the  internal  arrangement  of  municipal  power?  Shovdd  it 
be  centralized,  or  diffused?  The  first  question  the  commission 
answered  by  suggesting  a  larger  degree  of  home  rule.  It  declared, 
for  example,  that  the  legislature  of  the  state  should  not  have 
the  power  to  make  it  obligatory  upon  the  city  to  appropriate 
money  for  city  purposes  specified  by  the  legislature.  "A  virile 
municipality,  once  endowed  by  a  proper  measure  of  self-govern- 
ment, should  settle  for  itself  questions  which,  in  their  relation 
to  the  state  as  a  whole,  were  distinctively  local. " 

The  continued  interference  by  the  legislature,  the  New  York 
commission  declared,  is  held  responsible  for  instabiUty  in  muni- 
cipal government;  because  it  makes  impossible  any  guaranty 
of  a  continuous  policy.  It  records  the  fact  that  besides  more 
than  150  amendments  to  the  charter  adopted  by  the  legislature 
since  1897,  there  have  been  since  that  time  approximately  650 
separate  and  special  Acts  directly  affecting  the  city.  This  con- 
stant appeal  to  the  legislature  is  hurtful  both  to  the  legislature 
on  the  one  hand,  by  cumbering  it  with  endless  work,  and  to  the 
city  on  the  other  by  depriving  it  of  its  sense  of  responsibility. 
The  second  question  the  commission  answered  by  suggesting 
a  greater  degree  of  centralization  in  city  government. 

The  mayors  and  councilmen,  gathered  in  annual  convention 
by  the  League  of  American  Municipalities  at  its  recent  meeting 
in  Omaha,  after  an  active  discussion  resolved  that  a  committee 
of  ten  should  be  appointed  for  the  purpose  of  forming  and  pro- 
jecting an  organized  campaign  for  home  rule  to  all  mimicipalities, 
and  provided  that  all  cities,  however  small,  should  be  invited 
to  join  in  the  movement.    One  of  the  speakers  said  that 

In  the  United  States  today  it  frequently  happens  that  some 
distinguished  personage  will  visit  a  great  municipality  and  the 
form  of  bestowing  upon  him  the  freedom  of  the  city  is  observed ; 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


163 


but  it  is  a  form  only — an  empty  fiction.    However  hospitable 
their  employees,  however  welcome  their  visitors, 
Municipal  the  cities  of  this  great  republic,  with  some  not- 

Home  Rule  able  exceptions,  have  no  freedom  to  give.  They 
are,  in  fact,  slaves  themselves — slaves  to  the 
machinery  which  controls  the  state  and  which  generally  counts 
the  legislature  and  the  executive  as  its  most  important  parts. 
As  individuals,  the  American  citizens  have  greater  power  than 
the  people  anywhere  else  on  earth;  but  when  they  bind  them- 
selves together  as  a  municipal  corporation,  they  have  less  power 
over  their  affairs  than  serfs. 

Cuba,  while  not  a  possession  of  the  United  States,  has  had 
the  benefit  of  American  administration  diiring  the  past  two 
years,  and  during  this  time  has  taken  steps  to  bring  itself  into 
line  with  modem  thought  and  practice  in  more  respects  than  one. 
Its  latest  effort  to  introduce  efficient  methods  has  been  in  the 
direction  of  the  formulation  of  a  scheme  of  municipal  govern- 
ment which  American  states  and  cities  could  imitate  with 
profit.  In  a  "Project  of  Municipal  Law, "  prepared  by  an  advisory 
commission  composed  of  Americans  and  Cubans,  some  mem- 
bers of  which  were  members  of  the  National  Municipal  League, 
the  municipal  government  was  given  power  to  enjoy  "autonomy 
in  so  far  as  it  operates  to  provide  for  purelylocal  needs, "  auton- 
nomy  being  defined  to  mean  "a  special  power  of  initiative  and 
action  in  matters  exclusively  pertaining  to  the  municipality." 

This  municipal  home  rule  is  further  defined  and  protected 
by  a  provision  that  the  jurisdiction  over  all  matters  not  vested 
in  the  government  of  the  state,  or  in  the  provincial  councils 
or  governors  under  the  constitution  and  the  laws,  shall  be  invested 
in  the  municipal  government. 

The  cities  are  then  given  all  the  power  necessary  to  provide 
for  the  collective  needs  of  the  local  association  comprised 
within  the  municipal  district,  "the  preservation,  development 
and  culture  of  which  are  the  principal  needs  of  the  municipality." 

In  submitting  this  project  of  mtmicipal  law,  which  was  form- 
ally adopted  by  the  provisional  government  and  went  into 
operation  on  October  i,  it  was  declared  that  imder  the  Spanish 
law  theretofore  existing  in  the  island,  municipal  autonomy  was 
limited  by  the  necessity  of  having  the  government  of  the  state 


164 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


authorize  the  budget  and  other  financial  and  administrative 
transactions  of  the  city.  In  the  project  of  law  nothing  was 
provided  for  except  the  necessary  relations  between  the  general 
government  and  the  municipality  for  maintaining  the  political 
unity  of  the  state.    In  the  words  of  the  commissioner's  report: 

In  brief  the  Spanish  municipal  law  of  1877  is  a  conservative 
adaptation  of  the  law  of  1870,  which  was  pervaded  by  the  strong 
spirit  of  the  French  centralization  of  the  first  Napoleonic  Empire 
and  corresponded  to  that  class  of  political  ideas.  The  project 
which  we  submit  is  founded  upon  the  modem  current  of  scientific 
ideas,  and  particularly  upon  the  sound  principles  of  local  govern- 
ment endorsed  by  the  National  Municipal  League  of  the  United 
States. 

The  second  development  of  importance  and  significance  in 
the  matter  of  charter  reform,  is  the  trend  toward  the  con- 
centration of  power  and  responsibility.  No 
Concentration  small  part  of  the  popularity  of  the  Galveston- 
of  Power  and  Des  Moines  plan,  which  is  receiving  national 
Responsibility  attention  and  study,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
whole  responsibility  is  centered  on  a  small 
group  of  men  (in  most  instances  not  more  than  five)  and  there 
is  no  way  for  them  to  evade  the  responsibility.  "A  responsible 
mayor,"  or  "a  responsible  commission"  is  coming  to  be  regarded 
more  and  more  as  an  essential  to  effective  administration.  The 
old  idea  of  checks  and  balances  yields  to  the  modem  thought 
slowly;  but  modern  conditions  are  having  their  effect. 

In  New  York,  where  the  whole  question  is  being  fought  out 
on  an  extended  scale,  it  is  now  proposed  to  dispense  with  the 
borough  presidents,  who  are  the  elective  heads  of  the  five  con- 
stitutent  boroughs,  and  practically  do  away  with  the  board  of 
aldermen,  giving  all  the  powers  of  these  two  groups  of  officials 
to  the  board  of  estimate,  which  is  a  small  central  body  that  has 
grown  steadily  in  public  favor. 

With  the  borough  presidents  eliminated  from  the  board  of 
estimate,  however,  it  would  become  a  question  how  that  board 
should  be  chosen.  Mayor  McClellan  favors  the  direct  election 
of  citizens  to  this  board,  which  would  thus  become  a  small  but 
mighty  city  council.  This  method  of  choice  the  New  York 
Evening  Post  opposes,  pointing  out  that  a  large  part  of  the  use- 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF  165 

fulness  of  the  board  is  due  to  the  presence  in  its  membership  of 
the  mayor  and  comptroller. 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  that  the  New  York  idea  of  city  govern- 
ment is  veering  toward  the  Galveston  plan,  using  another  route, 
however,  to  reach  that  destination.  In  Galveston  the  people 
elect  a  grand  committee  of  five  men  to  rule  the  city.  These 
assume,  by  virtue  of  their  membership  on  the  board,  the  charge 
of  certain  executive  branches,  such  as  police,  health,  engineering, 
etc.  New  York,  on  the  other  hand,  elects  a  mayor,  comptroller 
and  several  borough  presidents,  who,  by  virtue  of  their  office, 
become  members  of  the  board  of  estimate,  or  grand  committee. 
The  tendency  in  both  instances,  however,  and  this  is  the  impor- 
tant thing  to  be  noted,  is  to  concentrate  the  powers  of  the  city 
in  the  hands  of  a  small  committee  of  responsible  men  who  are 
charged  with  both  administrative  and  legislative  duties. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  League  of  American  Municipalities  the 
Galveston-Des  Moines  plan  found  great  favor.  This  is  a  signifi- 
cant fact ;  as  that  meeting  was  composed  of  men  now  actually 
in  office  and  therefore  directly  charged  with  the  conduct  of 
affairs.  As  the  secretary  of  the  organization,  himself  one  of  the 
Des Moines  commissioners,  in  an  address  said: 

I  hear  talk  of  Omaha  charter  revision.  Don't  patch  up  the 
charter,  but  get  a  new  one.  You  can't  legislate  intelligence 
and  honesty  into  men.  As  to  the  Des  Moines  plan,  the  news- 
papers have  got  right  with  it.  Although  they  did  not  help 
elect  any  of  the  new  officers  they  support  them  now.  The 
taxpayers  said  they  wanted  results,  and  they  are  getting  them. 
The  system  is  not  conducted  for  the  benefit  of  any  set  of  men 
or  any  interests,  but  for  the  taxpayers  in  general;  because  each 
commissioner  is  held  directly  responsible  for  his  part  of  the 
government  and  there  is  the  recall  hanging  over  the  head  of 
each  commissioner,  threatening  him  with  removal  if  he  does  not 
do  the  right  thing. 

Another  development  has  been  the  reduction  in  size  of  the 
legislative  bodies  and  the  gradual  abolition  of  ward  lines  or,  what 
Reduction  of  substantially  the  same  thing,  an  enlargement 
J    .  .  ^  of  the  representative  districts.    Herein  lies  an- 

Bodies  other  cause  of  the  growing  popularity  of  the 

Galveston-Des  Moines  plan,  under  which  the 
council  is  made  up  of  five  men  elected  at  large. 


1 66  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


It  is  the  testimony  of  one  of  Dubuque's  best  informed  ex- 
officials  that  the  elimination  of  ward  lines  in  that  city's  govern- 
ment would  save  the  taxpayers  some  $20,000  to  $30,000  annually 
in  the  expenditures,  which  are  now  made  without  sufficient  war- 
rant, and  in  many  cases  actually  wasted. 

The  elimination  of  ward  fines  and  ward  representatives  does 
not  depend  upon  the  adoption  of  the  commission  form  of  govern- 
ment ;  but  this  has  been  thus  far  one  of  the  most  effective  ways 
of  achieving  this  end. 

Kansas  City  is  the  most  recent  of  the  large  cities  of  the  coimtry 
to  adopt  a  new  charter  which  marks  some  very  important  and 
distinct  advances  over  the  conditions  prevailing  under  the 
old  order;  but  these  advances  were  rather  of  specific  detail  than 
of  fundamentals.  Yet  along  these  lines  substantial  gains  were 
made  which  will  tend  to  simpfify  the  transaction  of  municipal 
affairs  and  to  lessen  the  hold  of  politicians  on  municipal  service. 
A  really  effective  merit  system  was  achieved ;  municipal  account- 
ing methods  were  improved;  a  franchise  referendum  was  pro- 
vided; but  an  alternative  proposition  for  the  recall  of  elected 
mimicipal  officers  received  much  less  than  a  majority  of  all 
the  votes  involving  the  charter  as  a  whole,  although  receiving 
four-sevenths  of  the  votes  cast  directly  concerning  it.  A  judicial 
construction  will  be  required  to  determine  whether,  under  these 
conditions,  the  recall  was  adopted. 

Ohio  has  adopted  a  new  mimicipal  code.  While  nominally 
maintaining  that  of  1902,  it  is  really  almost  revolutionary  in 
its  scope,  in  that  it  establishes  for  the  entire  state  the  some- 
what mistakenly  called  "federal,"  plan  of  government,  which 
was  the  boast  of  Cleveland  for  ten  years  tmtil  destroyed,  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  special  legislation,  by  the  supreme  covirt  in 
1902.  The  uniform  code  then  adopted,  established  a  divided 
responsibifity.  This  in  a  measure  has  been  corrected  in  the 
recent  legislation.  As  part  of  the  municipal  legislation  of  the 
year  in  Ohio  we  must  note  the  passage  of  an  act  providing  for 
the  establishment  of  the  merit  system  in  all  the  cities  of  the 
state  on  August  i,  1909. 

Hand  in  hand  with  the  movement  for  charter  revision  there 
has  been  a  steady  increase  in  the  nvimber  of  cities  which  have 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


167 


adopted  the  merit  system  within  the  past  half-dozen  years. 

As  the  Kansas  City  board  of  freeholders  re- 
The  Merit  cently  declared,  in  presenting  the  new  char- 
System  ter  above  referred  to :  "  Any  city  in  the  pres- 
ent state  of  municipal  advancement  and  progress 
which  has  not  a  provision  for  civil  service  reform,  is  as  much 
behind  the  times  as  a  city  without  electric  lights,  telephones  or 
street  cars."  In  1904  the  only  progress  to  be  noted  was  in 
Denver,  which  adopted  a  new  charter  providing  for  the  merit 
system  in  its  municipal  service.  In  1905  the  charter  proposed 
for  Kansas  City  was  defeated  by  the  politicians  of  both  parties, 
largely  because  of  its  civil  service  provision.  The  one  forward 
step  of  that  year  was  taken  by  Mayor  Weaver  of  Philadelphia 
in  removing  from  the  secretaryship  of  the  civil  service  board 
one  who  had  made  of  that  system  a  farce  and  a  by- word,  and 
replacing  him  by  one  Frank  M.  Riter,  who  made  of  the  office 
an  efficient  instrument  for  promoting  the  best  interests  of  the 
commtmity  and  of  protecting  the  municipal  service  from  the 
intrusion  of  incompetent  and  inefficient  men. 

1906  saw  the  adoption,  at  a  special  session  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania legislature,  of  a  comprehensive  civil  service  law  for  the 
city  of  Philadelphia  and  another  law  forbidding  the  political 
activity  of  municipal  employees.  The  city  of  Norfolk,  Vir- 
ginia, adopted  a  new  charter  in  that  year  providing  for  the 
appUcation  of  the  merit  system  to  the  entire  mimicipal  ser- 
vice. 

1907  brought  further  progress.  The  city  of  WheeUng,  by  a 
popular  vote,  adopted  charter  amendments  providing  for  the 
system  in  the  fire  and  water  works  departments.  Pennsyl- 
vania adopted  another  law  extending,  in  a  general  way,  the 
Philadelphia  civil  service  law  to  the  cities  of  Pittsburgh,  Alle- 
gheny and  Scranton.  Springfield,  IlUnois,  by  popular  vote 
adopted  the  provisions  of  the  Illinois  civil  service  law;  and  the 
city  council  subsequently  extended  the  scope  of  the  law  by 
changing  the  methods  of  appointing  city  officers.  In  Des 
Moines  a  commission  form  of  city  government  containing  strin- 
gent civil  service  provisions,  was  adopted  by  popular  vote. 
There  was  one  setback  to  be  noted  in  this  year,  namely:  in 


1 68  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


Philadelphia,  where  the  excellent  civil  service  board  that  had 
been  appointed  to  put  the  new  law  into  effect,  was  replaced  by- 
one  more  willing  to  heed  the  wishes  of  party  leaders  than  the 
spirit  and  letter  of  the  law. 

Although  the  record  of  1908  is  yet  to  be  completed,  a  great 
advance  has  already  been  accomplished.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  year  a  civil  service  law  was  passed  by  the  New  Jersey  legis- 
lature under  which  the  various  municipalities  may  adopt  its 
provisions  either  by  an  ordinance  of  the  governing  body  or  a 
popular  vote.  So  far  three  cities  (Newark,  Jersey  City  and 
Bayonne)  and  one  county  (Essex)  have  adopted  the  law  by 
ordinance. 

Cedar  Rapids  adopted  the  same  form  of  commission  govern- 
ment as  Des  Moines.  In  April,  civil  service  rules  were  estab- 
lished under  a  charter  provision  by  the  city  of  Long  Beach, 
California.  Ohio,  as  we  have  already  seen,  passed  a  code  con- 
taining admirable  civil  service  provisions,  which,  however,  do 
not  go  into  effect  vmtil  19 10.  August  saw  the  adoption  by 
Kansas  City,  which  a  few  years  previously  had  rejected  the 
idea,  of  rigorous  provisions  for  the  merit  system.  In  Boston 
the  finance  commission  disclosed  the  extravagance  in  the  mat- 
ter of  salaries  in  the  county  offices  not  under  the  civil  service  law, 
as  well  as  in  the  unnecessary  offices  created  to  satisfy  poUtical 
demands. 

The  progress  of  the  year  and  of  the  past  five  years  has  been 
distinctly  encouraging,  especially  in  that  it  shows  that  where 
people  have  a  fair  chance  to  decide,  they  will,  with  scarcely  an 
exception,  and  with  certainly  no  notable  exception,  overwhelm- 
ingly in  favor  of  the  merit  system. 

Except  in  Philadelphia,  where  the  merit  system  has  tempo- 
rarily fallen  upon  evil  days,  the  administration  of  the  civil  ser- 
vice laws  in  the  various  cities  shows  by  and  large  an  honest 
effort  to  enforce  them.  In  the  larger  cities  the  administration 
is  increasingly  efficient.  San  Francisco,  because  of  its  civic 
and  material  disasters,  stands  by  itself;  and  although  its  civil 
service  rules  have  been  indulgently  administered  in  the  last  few 
years,  the  situation  is  improving. 

There  has  been  a  constantly  growing  appreciation  of  the  evils 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


169 


of  the  political  activities  of  municipal  office-holders.  Mayor 


The  participation  of  city  employees  in  political  canvasses  is 
hereby  forbidden.  The  right  of  the  city  employee  to  exercise 
his  franchise  on  primary  and  election  days  is  one  which  should 
be  encouraged,  but  the  engagement  of  city  employees  in  factional 
political  contests  is  an  entirely  different  matter.  Employees 
are  hereby  notified  that  their  presence  at  the  polls,  either  check- 
ing, canvassing  or  soliciting  votes  on  primary  or  election  days, 
will  be  considered  sufficient  cause  for  immediate  dismissal  from 
the  service  of  the  city. 

The  board  of  control  of  Norfolk,  Virginia,  has  forbidden  its 
employees  to  engage  in  political  work;  and  the  city  council  of 
Des  Moines,  in  its  civil  service  rules,  has  likewise  prohibited  the 
political  activity  of  municipal  employees.  Several  years  ago 
James  Bryce  made  a  suggestion,  in  an  address  in  this  country, 
that  received  very  little  attention  at  the  time,  but  which  will 
receive  more  and  more  as  the  years  pass  by  and  the  public 
appreciate  the  tremendous  responsibilities  involved  in  govern- 
mental activities,  whether  city,  state  or  national. 

In  substance  he  recommended  the  creation  of  a  class  of  public 
officials  to  be  promoted  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  grade, 
on  strictly  civil  service  lines,  by  depriving  all  such  officials  of 
the  right  to  vote,  canvass,  speak  or  write  on  political  (that  is, 
partisan  political)  subjects.   His  exact  recommendation  was  that 

No  public  officer,  or  member  of  an  administration  or  of  a  public- 
service,  should  be  permitted  the  right  of  suffrage;  but  every  such 
person  should  be  excluded,  absolutely  and  entirely,  from  partici- 
pation in  the  ballot.  *  *  *  Forbid  the  public  servant  to 
canvass  or  to  speak  or  to  write  on  any  political  subject.  Teach 
himself  to  regard  himself  as  a  servant  of  the  nation,  and  not  of 
a  particular  political  party. 

At  first  blush  it  may  seem  a  hardship  to  require  all  those 
entering  upon  public  service  in  an  administrative  capacity  to 


Political 
Activities  of 
Officeholders 


Guthrie  of  Pittsburgh  has  expressly  forbidden 
municipal  employees  to  take  an  active  part  in 
politics.  Mayor  Hibbard  of  Boston  has  sent  the 
following  notice  to  all  heads  of  departments: 


I70  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


forego  an  expression  of  their  political  views  and  the  contribu- 
tions of  time  or  money  to  the  extension  of  those  views.  Never- 
theless, in  the  light  of  the  abuses  which  have  followed  the  prev- 
alence in  America,  from  the  beginning,  of  a  contrary  policy, 
some  such  remedy  as  Mr.  Bryce  suggests  would  seem  to  be  nec- 
essary to  correct  now  the  abuses  attendant  upon  the  unlimited 
privilege  of  public  servants  to  serve  as  political  managers  or 
workers. 

If  public  service  in  this  country  were  obligatory,  then  the  lim- 
itation on  the  right  of  public  servants  to  participate  in  poUtical 
affairs  would  be  unconstitutional;  but  so  long  as  entry  upon 
public  service  is  voluntary,  it  is  no  more  unconstitutional 
to  require  that  those  so  entering  shall  abstain  from  political 
activity  than  it  is  to  require  them  to  possess  certain  mental, 
physical,  or  residential  qualifications.  Civil  service  reform, 
which  has  been  so  thoroughly  established  in  certain  branches 
of  the  federal  government  and  in  a  growing  number  of  munici- 
palities, affords  a  partial  remedy;  but  so  long  as  the  civil  servants 
are  allowed  to  make  contributions  to  political  campaigns,  either 
of  money,  time,  or  speech,  so  long  will  it  be  possible  for  political 
organizations  to  exercise  a  very  considerable  control  over  the 
politics  of  governmental  employees. 

Nomination  reform  has  occupied  a  conspicuous  place  in  the 
thought  and  consideration  of  state  and  city  workers  during  the 
past  year.  Numerous  laws  providing  for  direct  nominations, 
more  or  less  completely,  have  become  effective  during  the  present 
year.  As  was  to  be  expected  with  the  intro- 
Nomination  duction  of  a  new  system  of  procedure  which 
Reform  eUminated  many  of  the  old  conditions  that  had 

afforded  favorable  opportunity  for  the  manipu- 
lations of  the  politician,  the  results  have  been  questioned. 
These  on  the  whole,  however,  have  recommended  themselves 
to  those  who  are  striving  for  the  elimination  of  nomination 
monopoly  and  for  the  inauguration  of  a  simpler  and  more  direct 
form  of  election  machinery. 

Direct  nominations  or  primaries  (as  they  are  still  frequently 
called)  involve  an  elimination  of  the  old-time  convention,  and 
of  the  indirection  which  afforded  ample  opporttmity  for  the 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


171 


skillful  hand  of  corrupt  politicians.  Moreover,  they  involve 
the  conduct  of  the  preliminary  election  under  the  auspices  of 
the  state  election  machinery  and  of  a  carefully  supervised  return 
of  the  votes.  They  further  involve  the  application  of  the 
principles  of  the  Australian  ballot  to  the  primary  ballot;  and 
this  in  time  will  lead  to  the  general  adoption  of  those  principles, 
both  at  general  and  primary  elections. 

It  is  now  generally  conceded,  except  by  a  very  small  and 
diminishing  group  of  men,  that  the  preparation  and  distribution 
of  the  ballots  at  the  general  election  is  a  proper  state  function 
and  expense.  The  fact  that  old-line  politicians  do  fight  so 
strongly  that  particular  provision  of  the  direct  primary  laws  is 
an  indication  that  it  destroys  a  part  of  their  privilege  and 
monopoly. 

It  is  averred  by  some  that  the  new  system  of  nomination  gives 
opportunity  for  all  sorts  of  manipulation  by  members  of  one 
party  casting  their  vote  for  a  nominee  to  be  placed  upon  the 
ticket  of  the  other,  thus  leading  to  the  nomination  of  weak 
candidates  for  the  express  purpose  of  overthrowing  them. 

This  was  especially  a  weakness  of  the  conven- 
Objections         tion  system,  and  is  likely  to  disappear  very 

rapidly  under  the  new  system  as  the  people 
become  accustomed  to  execising  their  rights  and  the  privileges 
of  discrimination  under  the  new  system.  While  it  must  not 
be  overlooked  that  the  notorious  Dr.  Ames  of  Minneapolis  was 
nominated  under  a  direct  primary  and  under  just  such  manipu- 
lation as  has  been  referred  to,  yet  the  fact  that  he  was  subse- 
quently elected  by  a  very  large  majority  at  the  general  election, 
indicated  that  the  people  of  Minneapolis  then  wanted  him.  I 
do  not  know  of  any  law  by  which  a  self-governing  community 
can  be  saved  from  itself.  It  must  bear  the  brunt  of  the  exercise 
of  its  judgment.  If  it  wants  men  of  the  Ames  type,  it  must 
be  permitted  to  have  them  and  learn,  by  bitter  experience,  how 
unwise  its  choice  is.  There  are  people,  and  good  people,  too, 
who  seem  to  think  that  direct  nominations  mean  inevitably 
good  nominations.  They  mean  nothing  of  the  kind.  They 
simply  mean  that  the  people  have  a  right  to  express  their  choice 
directly,  and  without  the  intervention  of  unnecessary  machinery. 


172 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


If  they  don't  know  any  better  than  to  choose  badly,  the  system 
won't  save  them. 

A  stock  objection  to  direct  nominations  has  been  that  it 
produces  Httle  men.  The  old  system  certainly  produced  its 
quota  of  little  men,  or  (what  was  equally  bad)  of  big  men  sus- 
ceptible of  manipulation  and  control.  The  line  of  progress  lies 
in  simplifying  the  machinery  of  nomination  and  election,  and 
of  protecting  it  against  corruption  and  fraud,  and  then  of  edu- 
cating the  people  in  the  exercise  of  the  franchise.  So  far  as  I 
have  been  able  to  observe  in  the  Western  cities  and  states  where 
direct  nominations  have  been  in  operation  for  some  consider- 
able time,  the  results  have  on  the  whole  been  very  satisfactory; 
and  a  very  much  higher  grade  of  men,  and  men  much  more 
responsive  to  public  sentiment,  have  been  chosen. 

Another  objection  frequently  urged  against  the  new  system 
is,  that  it  produces  self-advertising  on  the  part  of  candidates. 
It  is  difficult  to  consider  this  charge  as  a  serious  one;  because  there 
has  been  self-advertising  under  both  systems.  In  the  one  case, 
however,  it  is  a  direct  appeal.  In  the  other,  it  is  an  indirect 
appeal  by  a  party  committee  or  a  group  of  citizens.  It  would 
seem,  however,  that  if  there  was  any  advantage  in  the  one  over 
the  other,  it  was  in  favor  of  the  direct  appeal.  Certainly,  there 
is  much  to  be  said  in  behalf  of  the  English  system,  in  which  the 
candidate  makes  his  appeal  without  equivocation  to  those  whom 
he  seeks  to  represent.  The  system  in  vogue  there  seems  to  be 
much  more  truly  democratic ;  and  while  mistakes  may  be  made, 
as  we  know  they  have  been  in  the  past,  in  the  long  run  it  will 
work  out  best  for  the  community,  for  democracy,  and  for  the 
highest  welfare  of  mankind. 

There  is  considerable  danger,  it  must  be  admitted,  lest  the 
bitterness  engendered  during  the  preliminary  contest  may  be 
carried  over  into  the  general  election;  but,  after  all,  if  the  people 
of  a  community  do  not  want  a  man,  he  ought  not  to  be  forced 
upon  them  nolens  volens. 

We  must  realize  that  we  are  living  in  a  democracy,  and  that 
the  election  machinery  must  be  democratic  and  must  record 
the  wishes  of  the  people  and  be  responsive  to  their  desires. 
The  whole  trend  of  our  government  from  the  beginning  has 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


173 


been  to  strike  ofE  the  fetters  binding  the  people,  although 
the  process  has  often  been  a  slow  one.  Direct 
Democratic        nominations  are  a  step  in  advance;  because 
Election  they  enable   the   people  directly  to  express 

Machinery  their  wishes.  No  doubt  they  have  made  their 
mistakes,  and  will  continue  to  make  them;  but 
they  have  had  to  bear  the  brunt  of  them  in  the  past,  and  they 
must  continue  to  bear  them  in  the  future ;  and  this  in  the  long 
run  will  prove  to  be  the  most  effective  way  of  building  up 
an  enlightened  and  efficient  democracy. 

The  election  held  last  spring  in  Oregon  presented  many 
interesting  features  and,  in  a  way,  was  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able and  extraordinary  events  in  recent  years.  The  state  went 
overwhelmingly  Republican  on  every  issue  except  that  of 
United  States  senator.  There  was  a  direct  vote  for  that,  as 
for  other  offices;  and  the  present  governor  (a  Democrat)  was 
given  a  plurality  of  the  vote.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
the  legislature  is  overwhelmingly  Republican,  Governor  Cham- 
berlain, the  successful  candidate  for  United  States  senator, 
will,  in  all  likelihood,  be  elected  United  States  senator;  as  "State- 
ment No.  I,"  under  which  the  representatives  and  state  senators 
are  pledged  to  abide  by  the  popular  choice  of  the  people  in  the 
selection  of  United  States  senator,  has  become 
The  Oregon  firmly  established,  a  considerable  majority  of 
Situation  senators  and  representatives  having  either  ex- 

pressly or  impliedly  pledged  themselves  to  it. 
Someone  may  ask.  Why  refer  to  a  fact  relating  to  a  state 
election  of  a  United  States  senator  in  a  review  of  municipal 
events  and  tendencies?  Apparently,  the  incident  has  only  to 
do  with  state  and  federal  matters ;  but  inasmuch  as  the  National 
Municipal  League  and  its  members  and  affiliated  societies  con- 
tend that  municipal  affairs  should  be  considered  separately  and 
apart  from  state  and  national  affairs,  and  inasmuch  as  in  the 
past  it  has  been  difficult  to  achieve  this  desirable  end,  for  one 
reason  because  the  state  legislature  not  only  was  responsible  for 
the  administration  of  state  affairs  but  at  the  same  time  elected 
United  States  senators,  and  also  determined  the  form  and  all  too 
frequently  the  quality  of  municipal  government — any  step  which 


174  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


will  take  out  of  the  field  of  state  and  local  politics  the  determina- 
tion of  federal  questions,  is  a  step  not  only  in  the  right  direction, 
but  one  in  which  municipal  students  and  workers  have  a  direct 
and  profound  interest.  If  we  are  to  achieve  the  ideal  of  con- 
sidering municipal  issues  from  a  municipal  standpoint,  we 
must  provide  for  the  elimination  of  all  federal  questions  from 
our  state  and  municipal  machinery;  so  that  no  one  can  have 
any  excuse  whatever  for  injecting  national  politics  into  local 
elections  and  issues. 

The  initiative  and  the  referendum  are  coming  to  be  regarded 
as  effective  instruments  for  securing  an  immediate  expression 
of  the  people's  will.  Whether  they  will  become  permanent 
features  of  our  political  system,  in  view  of  its  fundamentally 
representative  character,  is  a  question  yet  to  be  determined; 
but  they  are  unquestionably  proving  effective  in  breaking  down 
some  of  the  privileges  and  monopolies  that  have  characterized 
corrupt  political  organizations  for  many  years. 

The  first  state  to  adopt  the  constitutional  amendment  for 
the  initiative  and  referendum  was  South  Dakota.  Utah  came 
next  with  one,  which,  however,  is  not  self-execut- 
The  Initiative  ing;  and  the  legislature  has  not  so  far  passed 
and  an  enabling  act.    Oregon  followed  in  1902 ,  Mon- 

Referendum  tana  in  1906;  and  Oklahoma  in  1907.  South 
Dakota,  Oregon  and  Columbia  went  so  far  as  to 
apply  the  constitutional  amendments  for  the  initiative  and 
referendum  to  municipal  corporations.  In  1907  Iowa  and 
South  Dakota  each  enacted  a  general  law  under  which  cities  may, 
if  they  so  desire,  have  charters  embodying  the  general  features 
of  the  commission  plan  of  government.  In  both  these  states 
the  cities  may  not  be  incorporated  by  special  act ;  but  any  city 
choosing  to  adopt  the  new  plan  of  government,  acquired  with 
it  the  initiative,  referendum  and  recall. 

In  South  Dakota  the  constitution  specifically  gives  to  the 
people  the  right  of  the  initiative  and  referendum;  but  in  Iowa 
there  is  no  constitutional  reference  to  it.  The  supreme  court 
of  that  state,  however,  has  decided  that  the  statute  conferring 
the  right  upon  cities  of  a  certain  class  of  adopting  the  commission 
plan  of  government  including  the  initiative,  referendum  and 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


175 


recall,  was  constitutional,  inasmuch  as  the  state  constitution 
did  not  specifically  forbid  the  granting  of  these  rights.  In 
Texas,  however,  cities  of  a  certain  size  may  be  incorporated  by 
a  special  act;  and  ever  since  Galveston  obtained  this  new  form 
of  government,  a  number  of  cities  have  been  given  charters  by 
special  act — some  embodying  the  initiative,  some  embodying 
all  three,  others  one  or  two  of  these  rights;  and  some,  none  of 
them,  or  only  in  a  modified  form. 

The  recall,  which  is  the  most  modern  of  the  three  remedies, 
was  adopted,  for  the  first  time  in  any  city  charter,  by  Los  Angeles, 
in  1903.  In  1905,  San  Diego,  San  Bernardino,  Pasadena  and 
Fresno  followed  Los  Angeles'  example.  In  1906  Seattle  joined 
the  list;  and  in  1907,  Everett,  Washington,  and  six  other  Cali- 
fornia cities  joined  in  the  movement. 

In  the  matter  of  public  utility  franchises  the  Cleveland  refer- 
endum on  the  street  railway  three  cents  fare  settlement  and 
the  workings  of  the  New  York  Public  Utility 
Public  Commissions  were  easily  the  most  important 

Utilities  events  of  the  year.    The  former  was  not  a  defeat 

of  municipal  ownership,  as  has  been  so  widely 
heralded.  While  it  was  easy  for  an  intelHgent,  disinterested, 
person  to  comprehend  the  issues  involved,  it  was  practically 
impossible  for  nine-tenths  of  the  voters  to  do  so. 

A  very  clear  representation  was  necessary  to  understand  the 
many  phases  of  the  problem.  It  was  easy  for  the  grossest  mis- 
representation to  find  lodgment,  and  this  misrepresentation 
was  made  the  last  week  of  the  campaign  by  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  circulars  and  hundreds  of  billboards  and  in  paid  news- 
paper advertisement  made  to  imitate  editorials. 

The  courts  may  yet  set  aside  the  vote  of  several  precincts 
because  of  serious  failures  of  some  of  the  voting  machines  to 
register  correctly  and  because  of  the  violation  of  the  state  law 
in  other  respects.  A  big  battle  is  beginning  as  to  whether  the 
Traction  Company  has  the  right  to  retain  the  properties  as 
leased.  The  Mayor  is  hopeful  and  may  yet  be  able  to  carry 
out  his  ideas.    New  developments  will  come  rapidly. 

The  vote  on  October  22  was  returned  as  38,249  for,  to  37,644 
against  the  franchise  given  by  the  City  Council  on  April  27  last. 


176  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


as  a  security  grant  to  the  Cleveland  Railway  Company.  Accord- 
ing to  one  close  observer  (Dr.  E.  W.  Bemis),  the  events  leading 
up  to  the  election,  which  surprised  friends  and  opponents  alike, 
weret  hese: 

The  strike  last  May  left  a  great  deal  of  bitterness  among  a 
very  active  minority  of  the  trade  \mions  of  the  city.  A  thou- 
sand striking  conductors  and  motormen,  who  refused  the  chance 
to  go  back  to  work  until  after  their  places  had  been  filled, 
devoted  all  their  time,  apparently  under  pay  of  some  interested 
parties,  in  printing  literature  and  actively  canvassing  against 
the  holding  corporation. 

Not  so  many  cars  were  run  by  about  15  per  cent  as  were 
operated  by  the  old  company  during  the  corresponding  months 
of  last  year.  The  Traction  Company  through 
The  Cleveland  this  cut  was  able  to  keep  up  the  property 
Situation  as  required  by  the  lease  and  pay  the  necessary 

rental;  but  was  obliged  to  do  so  under  a  policy 
of  a  straight  3  cents  fare  and  universal  transfer  within  the  city 
limits  and  because  of  two  temporary  conditions:  The  hard 
times,  and  the  impossibility  of  collecting  a  3  cents  fare  without 
the  use  of  "pay  as  you  enter"  cars  and  a  suitable  fare  box  at 
the  entrance  of  the  car.  The  times  have  been  the  worst  experi- 
enced in  Cleveland  for  twelve  years  or  more ;  and  this  fact  as 
any  where  else,  lessened  the  number  of  street  car  rides.  A 
return  to  the  normal  would  enable  the  company  through  the 
increased  earnings  to  give  as  good  service  as  was  ever  given. 
Furthermore,  the  company  was  rapidly  transforming  its  cars 
into  the  "pay-enter"  type  with  an  excellent  fare  box  just 
invented  by  Mayor  Johnston. 

One  line  on  which  these  boxes  had  been  put  into  use  showed 
an  increase  of  17  per  cent  in  the  receipts,  with  scarcely  any 
increase  in  expenses.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe.  Dr. 
Bemis  declares,  that  this  increase  would  apply  to  all  the  lines  as 
soon  as  the  new  cars  were  ready  next  year,  and  this  alone  would 
enable  the  service  to  be  improved  by  so  much  as  it  had  been  cut, 
but  the  people  were  impatient  and  did  not  wish  to  wait. 

Had  the  holding  company  secured  the  property  at  its  struc- 
tural value  or  about  two-thirds  of  what  was  paid  for  it,  or  had 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


177 


it  been  willing  to  raise  the  fares  to  about  3.5  cents,  the  service 
could  have  immediately  been  made  all  that  was  desirable  and 
then  the  fare  could  have  been  reduced  to  3  cents  on  the  resump- 
tion of  better  times  or  a  completion  of  the  new  cars;  but  the 
Traction  Company  did  not  realize  how  much  the  people  objected 
to  the  reduction  in  service. 

The  company  was  generally  thought  to  have  been  so  confi- 
dent of  its  motives  and  of  the  confidence  of  the  people  in  it,  and 
so  confident  also  of  the  wisdom  and  ultimate  popularity  of  the 
many  changes  that  it  made  in  the  routing  of  its  cars,  etc.,  that  it 
showed  too  little  tact  in  dealing  with  the  desires  or  prejudices 
of  the  people. 

Some  felt  that  because  the  promises  as  to  service  did  not 
appear  to  have  been  fully  kept  during  the  first  five  months, 
therefore,  the  promise  as  to  the  future  of  rapid  improvement 
of  service  also  would  not  be  kept. 

At  the  election  itself  thousands  appear  to  have  voted  against 
the  franchise  who  thought  they  were  voting  to  sustain  the  Mayor 
and  his  policy.  In  sixty  of  the  precincts  where  voting  machines 
were  used,  the  ballot  was  not  made  to  read  "For  the  franchise" 
or  "Against  the  franchise,"  as  the  campaign  speakers  and 
public  print  had  explained  would  be  done.  In  the  voting 
machines,  the  voters  to  their  surprise  and  without  any  previous 
instructions  found  themselves  face  to  face  with  a  pointer  which 
must  be  turned  to  the  words  "Yes"  or  "No."  Many  were 
thus  confused,  it  is  alleged;  while  scores  of  machines  for  some 
reason  did  not  register  all  the  votes  cast.  If  the  votes  of  these 
precincts  are  thrown  out,  the  whole  result  of  the  election  will 
be  changed. 

The  fear  of  political  enemies  of  the  mayor  that  the  3  cents 
fare  experiments  would  ultimately  give  good  service  and  thereby 
enhance  the  prestige  and  political  power  of  the  mayor,  was 
another  strong  influence,  as  was  the  large  amount  of  money  used 
by  the  opposition.  Whether  it  came  from  street  railways  in 
other  cities  that  feared  the  spread  of  the  Cleveland  experiment, 
or  from  certain  other  local  public  utility  corporations  that 
feared  the  application  of  the  holding  company  or  municipal 
ownership  idea  to  them,  or  whether  it  came  from  a  few  large 


178  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


stockholders  of  one  of  the  old  constituent  companies,  is  not 
known.  The  fact  remains  that  enormous  sums  of  money  were 
spent  in  defeating  the  ordinance. 

It  is  impossible  to  predict  the  future.  A  written  agreement 
exists  between  the  mayor  and  the  representative  of  the  old 
Cleveland  Electric  Railway  Company,  providing  that  if  the 
security  grant  should  fail  the  properties  should  revert  to  their 
original  owners,  the  Forest  City  or  3  cents  fare  line  on  one 
hand,  and  the  Cleveland  Electric,  with  its  rapidly  expiring 
franchises  on  the  other.  This  eminently  just  and  fair  provision 
was  not  embodied,  however,  in  any  contract  between  the  com- 
panies, and  its  validity  is  disputed  by  the  attorneys  for  the 
Cleveland  Electric  Company.  The  latter  claim  they  technically 
bought  out  the  Forest  City  and  are  now  the  owners  of  both  the 
3  cents  fare  Unes  and  the  other,  and  can  operate  the  entire  system, 
giving  3  cents  fare  on  the  Forest  City  line  and  a  higher  fare  on 
the  other  lines.  If,  however,  the  technical  or  purely  legal 
aspects  are  to  be  pursued,  the  attorneys  for  the  mayor  claim 
that  the  lease  of  the  entire  Cleveland  Railway  Company,  includ- 
ing the  Forest  City,  to  the  Municipal  Traction  Company  did 
not  legally  have  any  provision  for  a  reversion  of  the  lessors' 
properties  in  case  the  security  grant  was  not  ratified.  The 
outcome  will  be  awaited  with  keen  interest. 

The  working  out  of  the  New  York  and  Wisconsin  experiments 
are  being  watched  with  keen  interest.  It  is  too  soon  to  predict 
the  effect  of  their  operation.  It  is  sufficient  to  note  that  a 
public  sentiment  is  being  slowly  but  surely  formed  that  will 
eventually  work  out  a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  whole  diffi- 
cult problem. 

The  New  York  investigations  are  yielding  abundant  fruit  in 
the  disclosure  of  existing  conditions  and  in  directing  public 

attention  to  the  question  of  the  policies  to  be 
The  New  pursued.    William  M.  Ivins,   of  counsel  for 

York  Com-  Commission  No.  i,  has  become  convinced  that 
mission  private  ownership  and  use  of  public  franchises 

is  a  failure.  He  believes  that  the  better  way 
of  handling  the  matter  is  through  the  public  ownership  of  street 
car  lines — ^whether  surface,  subway,  or  elevated — and  their 


4 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


179 


operation  by  the  private  companies  making  the  highest  bids 
for  a  given  term  of  years. 

He  does  not  favor  municipal  operation  as  well  as  ownership. 
Taking  warning  from  the  experience  of  the  city  in  connection 
with  the  equipment  of  the  subway,  he  would  have  lines  munici- 
pally owned  and  equipped  before  any  bids  for  their  operation 
are  received.  But  when  the  plants  are  ready  for  use  he  would 
have  private  companies  manage  them.  So  far  as  ownership 
and  equipment  are  concerned,  the  same  conclusions  were  reached 
by  a  Massachusetts  commission  of  prominent  men  (headed  by 
Charles  Francis  Adams) ,  who  made  a  careful  study  of  the  sub- 
ject both  in  America  and  abroad. 

In  Minneapolis  the  conspicuous  feature  of  the  past  year, 
municipally,  has  been  the  rapid  development  in  the  community 
of  a  distinct  franchise  program.  Public  senti- 
Minneapolis  ment  is  now  more  engrossed  along  this  line 
Franchise  than  any  other.  The  long  drawn  out  contro- 

Program  versy  over  the  General  Electric  franchise  is 

largely  responsible  for  the  present  condition 
of  affairs  in  this  respect.  The  General  Electric  franchise,  passed 
by  the  council  and  vetoed  by  the  mayor,  is  still  hung  up,  but 
its  lessons  have  not  been  lost  on  the  community.  The  question 
now  is  a  much  broader  one  than  whether  the  General  Electric 
franchise  shall  be  adopted  or  not. 

The  broad  general  question  of  municipal  franchises  has 
developed  from  the  other  and  has  assumed  large  importance  in 
the  public  mind.  This  was  made  a  leading  issue  in  the  candi- 
dacies of  many  candidates  for  the  nomination  for  alderman  and 
of  one  of  the  mayoralty  candidates.  The  results  will  be,  in 
the  opinion  of  local  observers,  a  new  council  after  January  i  tak- 
ing a  conspicuously  advanced  stand  in  franchise  matters.  It 
is  safe  to  assume  that  no  franchise  will  be  granted  in  the  next 
three  or  four  years  that  does  not  provide  for  adequate  compen- 
sation to  the  public  in  some  form — purchase  by  the  city  under 
fair  terms,  reasonable  regulation  of  service  and  rates,  and  com- 
paratively short  terms. 

This  program  was  definitely  announced  by  Mayor  Haynes, 
who  has  just  been  reelected  in  consequence  thereof.    It  was 


i8o  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


the  one  thing  that  saved  him  from  defeat  at  both  the  primaries 
and  the  general  election. 

Missouri  now  has  a  law  under  which  each  city  can  create  its 
own  utility  commission.  Indianapolis  has  a  law  passed  by  the 
late  Indiana  legislature  which  forbids  the  present  administration 
of  the  city  from  entering  into  any  contract  with  the  gas  company 
whereby  more  than  60  cents  per  i  ,000  cubic  feet  would  be  charged. 
Another  most  significant  development,  or  rather  incident,  was 

the  declaration  of  W.  Caryl  Ely,  past  President 
A  Significant  of  the  American  Street  and  Interurban  Rail- 
Statement  way  Association.    Speaking  of  the  supervision 

of  public  service  corporations  by  state  com- 
missions, he  said,  in  part: 

This  movement  is  not  confined  to  any  state.  It  is  sweeping 
over  the  whole  world.  The  people  are  asserting  themselves. 
We  might  as  well  seek  to  dam  Niagara  as  to  stop  this.  It  is 
impossible  to  stop  it.  Deep  down  in  our  hearts  we  know  it  is 
right ;  let  us  be  men  enough  to  recognize  it ;  let  us  cooperate  with 
the  people,  and  let  them  understand  that  weare  working  together ; 
be  frank  with  them,  and  we  shall  find  that  they  are  not  un- 
reasonable, but  want  only  fair  and  square  treatment. 

We  have  had  trouble  because  there  was  captious  fighting 
against  proper  measures  which  would  not  have  been  so  drastic 
in  some  cases  if  the  proper  spirit  had  been  shown  and  the  public 
service  side  was  presented  in  the  right  manner.  Let  us  deal 
with  the  people  in  the  most  open  way  possible,  and  fare  trouble 
and  all  other  troubles  will  disappear. 

More  significant  still  is  the  fact  that  these  words  were  received, 
we  are  told,  with  "great  applause  and  general  approval." 

Not  only  are  public  and  especially  municipal  officials  coming 
to  be  subjected  to  greater  and  greater  ilimitations  insofar  as 
political  activity  is  concerned,  but  the  community  is  imposing 
more  and  more  exacting  conditions  regarding  political  cam- 
paign funds.  Publicity  and  limitation  of  such  funds  are  no 
new  thing  in  this  country,  as  a  number  of  states  have  numerous 
elaborate  statutes  on  various  phases  of  the  subject;  but  the 
attitude  of  the  candidates  in  the  recently  concluded  presidential 
campaign  serves  to  show  how  far  we  have  already  progressed. 
Moreover,  it  will  further  serve  to  accelerate  the  movement. 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


i8i 


In  a  long  list  of  states  there  are  statutes  requiring  that  either 
the  candidates,  committees  or  political  agents  shall  file  sworn 

itemized  statements.  It  includes^Massachusetts, 
Election  Connecticut,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia, 

Texas,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  Missouri,  Neb- 
^  raska,   Montana,  Colorado,  Arizona  and  Cali- 

fornia, and  the  Texas  law  of  1905  provides  that  all  handling 
funds  shall  file  statements.  There  is  a  variation  of  requirements 
as  to  disposition  of  the  statement.  In  some  places  it  is  merely 
filed,  although  open  to  public  inspection.  In  some  it  must  be 
advertised,  and  in  others  published  in  pamphlet  form.  There 
has  also  been  considerable  legislation  restricting  contributions 
and  expenditures.  The  laws  of  Wisconsin,  Missouri,  Nebraska, 
Florida,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  prohibit  corporation  con- 
tributions to  campaign  funds  and  Wisconsin  forbids  non-resi- 
dents from  contributing.  In  Connecticut,  New  Jersey,  Illinois 
and  California  it  is  unlawful  to  solicit  funds  of  candidates,  but 
they  are  entitled  to  contribute  of  their  own  free  will,  if  they 
so  decide.  The  time  will  no  doubt  come,  however,  when  candi- 
dates and  office-holders  will  be  absolutely  forbidden  to  con- 
tribute to  political  funds.  As  to  the  limitations  on  expendi- 
tures, Connecticut  and  Nebraska  forbid  the  payment  of  natural- 
ization fees  and  Texas  prohibits  the  payment  of  an  elector's 
poll  tax.  In  New  Hampshire,  North  and  South  Carolina, 
Florida,  Mississippi  and  Arkansas  treating  and  entertainment 
are  forbidden.  Betting  on  the  results  of  an  election  are  illegal 
in  Maine,  Pennsylvania,  Wisconsin,  Missouri,  North  Dakota, 
Nebraska,  Oklahoma,  Arizona  and  California.  No  state,  how- 
ever, has  gone  as  far  as  Sir  Henry  James'  British  Act  of  1883, 
which  deprives  election  workers  of  their  votes,  although  Minne- 
sota's law  of  1895  limits  their  employment.  The  only  legal 
expenditures  in  that  state  are  for  public  speakers  and  musicians, 
the  personal  traveling  expenses  of  the  candidates,  rent  of  halls, 
cost  of  printing  and  postage,  telegraph  and  other  messenger 
service,  the  hire  of  clerks,  challengers,  canvassers,  and  the  use 
of  carriages  for  the  conveyance  of  infirm  and  disabled  voters 
to  the  polls.  The  same  Minnesota  act  and  the  Missouri  law  of 
1893  limits  the  amount  to  be  spent  in  a  campaign  according 


i82  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


to  the  number  of  voters  and  the  California  law  limits  the 
expenses  of  candidates  according  to  salary.  The  penalties  to 
enforce  these  laws  vary  from  fine  and  imprisonment  to  disfran- 
chisement and  annulment  of  election.  The  whole  question  is 
well  before  the  pubUc  by  reason  of  the  action  of  Judge  Taft  and 
Mr.  Bryan;  and  we  hope  electoral  reformers  will  seize  the  oppor- 
timity  to  extend  and  perfect  the  laws  already  on  the  book  and 
to  bring  still  other  communities  under  their  beneficent  sway. 
In  the  meantime,  it  would  not  be  amiss  for  the  candidates  to 
consider  with  care  the  suggestions  of  President  Roosevelt  that 
election  expenses  be  borne  by  the  government  just  as  those  of 
election  day  now  are — a  suggestion  that  is  being  reiterated  by 
an  increasing  number  of  municipal  reformers. 

From  every  part  of  the  country  comes  news  of  municipal 
interest  in  and  more  stringent  regulation  of  the  sale  of  alcoholic 
liquors.  For  instance,  we  learn  that  in  Wyoming  there  is  fast 
developing  a  local  option  sentiment  and  the  present  prospects 
are  that  the  next  legislature  will  pass  a  local  option  law.  In 
Indiana  and  Ohio  it  has  been  an  absorbing  issue. 

The  saloon  continues  to  be  a  disturbing  factor  in  Minneapolis 
politics.  Beyond  half-hearted  enforcement  of  the  ii  o'clock 
and  Sunday  closing  statutes,  the  present  admin- 
The  Saloon  and  istration  holds  a  rather  passive  attitude  toward 
Municipal  this  and  all  other  moral  questions.    The  pres- 

Politics  ent  mayor  has  gone  on  the  theory  that  the 

law  enforcement  issue  as  regards  the  saloon  is 
settled  in  Minneapolis,  and  is  making  his  campaign  on  the  issue 
of  franchises.  The  city  council  passed  a  saloon  limiting  ordi- 
nance in  1907,  with  the  limit  placed  at  435. 

From  far  western  Walla  Walla  comes  a  message  that  is  typical 
of  many  another  far  and  mid-western  community: 

The  influence  of  the  saloon  in  local  politics  has  been  decidedly 
minimized.  I  think  I  correctly  stated  the  situation  when  I  say 
that  five  years  ago  a  candidate  for  office  would  seek  the  aid  of 
the  saloons  and  feel  that  he  was  not  alienating  the  independent 
vote.  At  the  present  time  I  think  every  candidate  is  striving 
to  convince  the  people  that  he  is  opposed  to  the  saloons  and  in 
favor  of  local  option.  I  believe  that  a  local  option  law  would 
carry  at  this  fall's  election  if  submitted  to  a  popular  vote. 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


183 


New  Orleans  reports  a  restrictive  act  which  was  accepted  by 
the  local  representatives  in  the  state  legislature,  not  because  they 
wanted  it,  but  because  they  feared  its  rejection  would  mean 
prohibition,  pure  and  simple,  at  the  next  session  of  the  legislature. 

The  most  pronounced  incident  in  connection  with  municipal 
affairs  in  Richmond,  Virginia,  during  the  last  year  was  the  enact- 
ment of  an  ordinance  limiting  the  number,  regulating  the  con- 
duct of  saloons  in  the  city  and  faxing  the  license  fee  at  $500.00, 
double  the  amount  formerly  paid.  The  friends  of  this  ordinance 
are  satisfied  that  it  has  proved  a  great  success  in  eliminating 
the  worst  and  most  objectionable  places  and  lessening  crime  in 
the  city. 

The  prohibition  law  in  Alabama  has  been  in  operation  in 
Birmingham  for  nine  months.  In  other  communities  in  the 
state  it  has  been  in  operation  for  many  years,  for  they  have  had 
local  option  laws  in  Alabama  for  fifty  years.  It  has  been  demon- 
strated to  the  satisfaction  of  intelligent  critics  that  prohibition 
decreases  the  consumption  of  liquor  to  a  very  considerable  extent 
and  decreases  crime  to  a  very  great  extent.  In  fact,  in  the 
smaller  towns  of  the  state,  the  closing  of  the  saloons  has  meant 
the  closing  of  the  police  courts,  and  many  city  prisons  in 
Alabama  have  had  no  prisoners  for  months. 

In  Birmingham,  which  last  year  had  in  round  numbers  ten 
thousand  arrests  for  various  offenses,  there  is  shown  a  decrease 
of  nearly  fifty  per  cent  (50  per  cent).  The  reports  of  the  health 
department  show  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  deaths  from  acci- 
dents and  violent  causes  that  is  quite  remarkable,  so  much  out 
of  line  with  the  usual  reports  that  the  health  officer  credits  it  to 
prohibition.  The  number  of  murders  committed  in  the  county 
has  largely  decreased,  and  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  jails 
and  feeding  prisoners,  the  administration  of  justice  and  the 
operation  of  all  of  our  industries  of  every  character,  have 
demonstrated  that  prohibition  of  the  sale  of  liquor  means 
economy,  in  Alabama  at  least,  in  the  administration  of  affairs, 
both  public  and  private. 

A  serious  attempt  is  being  made  in  Chicago  to  reverse  the 
wide  open  policy  that  has  prevailed  for  more  than  30  years. 
The  city  has  a  large  population  of  foreign  parentage  which 


i84 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


regards  restrictions  upon  liquor-drinking  as  interference  with 
personal  liberty.    This  element,  however,  or 
Chicago's  at  least  a  large  portion  of  it,  is  not  lawless  in 

Anomalous  its  instincts.  It  chafed  at  the  taunts  of  the 
Condition  prohibitionists  that  it  was  a  law-defying  ele- 

ment. Consequently,  when  the  Chicago  Charter 
Convention  was  framing  a  draft  of  a  charter  for  the  city  of 
Chicago,  the  keynote  of  which  was  municipal  home  rule,  the 
United  Societies,  representing  largely  citizens  of  foreign  descent, 
asked  that  the  charter  provide  for  home  rule  on  the  Sunday 
question.  The  Charter  Convention  approved  a  bill  vesting  in 
the  city  council  the  power  to  say  whether  or  not  saloons  should 
be  open  or  closed  in  Chicago  on  Sunday.  The  Legislature, 
however,  refused  to  pass  this  particular  bill.  Consequently 
the  United  Societies,  as  a  means  of  showing  their  power,  fought 
the  approval  of  the  charter  on  a  referendum  vote.  The  charter 
was  defeated  by  a  large  majority,  and  undoubtedly  the  United 
Societies  were  an  important  factor  in  procuring  that  result. 

The  demonstration  of  power,  however,  offended  elements 
favorable  to  the  new  charter,  and  the  result  has  been  that  the 
Law  and  Order  League  has  persistently  pushed  the  issue  of 
Sunday  closing  to  the  front.  Whether  it  will  succeed  in  that 
particular  purpose  cannot  be  prophesied;  but  this  much  can 
reasonably  be  predicted — the  saloon  question,  and  especially 
that  phase  of  it  known  as  "Sunday  opening."  will  be  deter- 
mined in  accordance  with  law.  In  other  words,  if  the  majority 
of  the  people  of  Chicago  want  liquor  sold  on  Sunday  the  law 
will  be  changed  accordingly.  If  they  do  not,  then  the  present 
law  will  be  enforced  as  are  similar  laws  in  other  cities.  Enforce- 
ment will  be  a  settled  policy  and  not  dependent  upon  the  whim 
and  wishes  of  the  administration  temporarily  in  office.  The 
Interior  of  Chicago  has  put  the  whole  case  in  a  nutshell: 

The  Sunday-closing  law  for  saloons  is  to  many  citizens  of 
Chicago  a  conscience  statute,  but  to  many  it  is  not.  To  the 
latter  it  is  simply  one  of  those  personally  obnoxious  regulations 
which  men  of  better  position  in  the  community  have  taught  them 
by  example  to  disregard  at  pleasure.  There  is  only  one  principle 
of  citizenship  which  will  bring  such  classes  into  Una  with  this 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


and  other  requirements  of  state  legislation,  and  that  is  the 
fundamental  doctrine  that  it  is  an  essential 
Law  part  of  patriotism  for  a  man  voluntarily  to 

Enforcement  keep  every  requirement  on  the  statute  books 
as  long  as  it  remains  there  unrepealed.  This 
is  a  perfectly  tangible  proposition  which  it  requires  no  American 
birth  for  a  citizen  to  apprehend,  if  it  is  put  to  him  squarely.  A 
German  can  see  it  as  well  as  a  New  Englander.  But  before 
the  New  Englander  or  any  other  advocate  of  this  principle  can 
begin  to  teach  it  to  the  German  or  any  other  man  who  hasn't 
realized  it,  he  must  first  clean  up  his  own  dooryard,  and  as  at 
matter  of  patriotic  obHgation  must  conform  his  own  personal 
and  business  practice  in  each  minute  particular  to  the  exact 
letter  of  the  law  and  as  well  to  its  essential  spirit.  Here  is  high 
need  for  a  revival  that  shall  begin  high  and  reach  down  low, 
touching  society  in  every  grade. 

The  issue  in  Chicago  and  in  every  other  part  of  the  land — 
for  the  issue,  acute  or  latent,  reaches  everywhere — is  not  a  mere 
quarrel  over  this  or  that  especial  statute.  The  gist  of  the  ques- 
tion has  been  obscured  in  Chicago  because  so  many  men  have 
plunged  into  it  to  show  their  Sabbatarian  zeal,  and  others  as  a 
special  phase  of  the  anti-saloon  campaign.  The  subject  must 
be  seen  and  treated  more  broadly.  It  must  be  distinctly 
realized  that  when  a  candidate  for  a  law-enforcing  office  promises 
not  to  enforce  one  given  statute,  he  has  attacked  not  a  law,  but 
the  law— the  whole  body  and  fabric  of  democratic  self-regulation 
through  legal  enactment.  The  ideal  of  absolute  law-supremacy 
must  be  held  intact  in  every  possible  application,  or  it  will  go 
altogether  to  pieces.  The  proof  of  such  disintegration  is  seen 
immediately  in  the  fact  that  any  candidate  who  promises  to 
nullify  any  one  enactment  on  the  books  forthwith  gathers  to 
himself  the  favor  and  aid  of  the  criminal  classes — of  everybody 
who  makes  it  a  business  to  break  the  people's  enactments.  The 
whole  flood  of  criminal  population  rushes  gleefully  for  the  first 
slight  flaw  in  the  law's  great  dike.  All  law-breaking  is  bound 
up  together  by  inevitable  logic  of  human  nature;  the  only 
defense  against  the  very  worst  of  it  is  to  bind  up  together  all 
law-observance  and  tie  it  tight. 

From  all  the  various  cities  of  the  country  come  encouraging 
reports  of  activity,  important  work  undertaken,  and  accom- 
plished results.  Boston  last  December  overthrew  Mayor  Fitz- 
gerald, who  had  not  only  the  advantage  of  being  a  Democrat 
in  a  Democratic  stronghold,  but  the  strong  support  of  a  vigorous, 


1 86  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


well  entrenched  machine  based  on  a  judicious  distribution  of 
the  spoils  of  war.  The  Repubhcan  candidates  was  elected  by  a 
substantial  majority,  and  since  his  induction  into  office  has 
been  fulfilling  with  a  fair  measure  of  success  the  ante-election 
pledges;  so  that  Boston  must  have  credit  not  only  for  having 
defeated  Fitzgerald,  but  of  having  elected  in  his  place  a  man 
who  fairly  recognizes  his  duty  and  his  obligation  to  the  whole 
people. 

The  Good  Government  Association  refers,  in  its  last  report, 
to  the  growing  importance  and  influence  of  the  publication  of 
Boston  records  of  all  candidates  for  mimicipal  office, 

which  are  regularly  mailed  to  every  voter  in 
the  city.  This  year,  partly  as  a  result  of  these  records  and 
of  a  large  amount  of  definite,  painstaking  work  the  associa- 
tion succeeded  in  securing  the  election  of  a  better  board  of 
aldermen  than  the  city  has  had  for  many  years,  and  in  defeat- 
ing several  most  undesirable  candidates.  The  epoch-mark- 
ing work  of  the  Boston  Finance  Commission  which  has  had  the 
earnest  and  efficient  support  of  the  association  from  the  beginning 
has  been  noted  in  another  connection. 

The  Boston  Merchants  Association  has  been  reorganized  on 
lines  which  will  make  it  a  powerful  factor  in  advancing  not  only 
the  commercial,  but  the  civic  interests  of  the  city;  so  that  it  is 
expected  to  take  its  place  side  by  side  with  the  merchants 
associations  of  New  York,  Indianapolis,  Chicago  and  San  Fran- 
cisco and  with  the  great  chambers  of  commerce  in  Pittsburgh 
and  Cleveland:  all  of  which  are  now  generally  recognized 
throughout  the  country  as  being  leaders  in  the  work  of  civic 
advancement.  The  Boston  association  will  have  a  municipal 
and  metropolitan  department,  imder  the  direction  of  a  committee 
which  includes  in  its  membership  a  nimiber  of  the  most  influen- 
tial business  men  in  the  city. 

"Associated  Civic  Societies  of  New  Haven,"  Connecticut,  is 
the  title  under  which  the  progressive  forces  of  that  city  are  now 
working.    Through  its  program  committee  it  is  bringing  to 

.„  that  city  men  of  national  prominence  to  speak 

New  Haven  ■     ^    ^  -i      j    ■  ■       ■    •  ^ 

on  important  municipal  and  civic  principles, 

showing  how  they  can  be  applied  to  New  Haven.    It  has  a 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


187 


publicity  committee  which  furnishes  to  the  newspapers  from 
time  to  time  articles  bearing  on  the  work  that  is  being  taken 
up,  and  which  is  keeping  the  people  informed  not  only  of  what 
the  society  is  doing  but  of  what  needs  to  be  done.  Through 
the  educational  committee  there  is  being  developed  a  larger  use 
of  the  public  school  buildings,  which  are  gradually  being  opened 
for  lectures  and  entertainments  mainly  along  the  lines  followed 
with  so  much  success  in  New  York  City.  The  civic  committee 
deals  directly  with  the  city  government,  following  up  the  work 
of  the  aldermen,  the  several  departments,  the  manner  in  which 
the  money  of  the  city  is  being  spent.  It  is  represented  at 
all  public  hearings  involving  legislation  bearing  on  the  city's 
welfare,  approving  that  which  is  deemed  to  be  for  the  best 
interest  of  the  city  and  opposing  that  which  is  considered  detri- 
mental. 

Governor  Hughes'  triumphant  renomination  and  reelection 
are  the  transcendentally  important  events  in  New  York  state. 
They  are  important  not  only  to  New  York  but  to  the  country 
at  large.  Hated  and  opposed  to  the  uttermost  by  the  corrupt 
politicians  who  saw,  in  the  event  of  his  reelec- 
Govemor  tion,  the  crumbling  of  their  carefully  devised 

Hughes  plans  and  machinery,  he  was  nominated  by  a 

Reelection  hostile  convention  because  it  realized  the 
fatuity  of  attempting  to  defeat  the  clearly  and 
unequivocally  expressed  desire  of  the  people  of  the  state.  To 
have  defeated  Governor  Hughes  for  renomination  would  have 
foredoomed  the  Republican  ticket  to  defeat;  and  for  the  people 
of  the  state  to  have  refused  him  a  reelection  would  have  been 
to  give  all  the  corrupt  and  detrimental  forces  of  the  state  a 
renewed  lease  of  life. 

The  election  means  not  only  the  overthrow  of  the  forces  of 
iniquity,  but  the  defeat  of  the  reactionary  influences  that  have 
been  making  a  great  last  stand  for  power  and  control.  It  means 
the  ultimate  success  of  his  far-reaching  program  of  reforms;  it 
means  encouragement  to  every  person  interested  in  the  higher 
welfare  of  the  community;  it  means  the  success — the  ultimate 
success — of  decent  methods  and  more  efficient  government. 
Not  only  will  every  worker  in  the  cause  of  mvmicipal  decency 


l88  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


and  betterment  in  New  York  state  be  helped  by  his  victory, 
but  likewise  every  one  throughout  the  United  States  who  has 
at  heart  the  interests  of  the  people  and  of  the  whole  people. 

There  have  been  numerous  incidents  of  local  importance  and 
somewhat  general  significance  in  New  York  which,  however, 

have  been  more  or  less  overshadowed  by  the 
New  York's  Hughes  campaign.  Among  these  we  may  men- 
Recount  Bill      tion  the  passage  of  the  Recount  Bill  a  year  ago 

at  the  hands  of  a  reluctant  legislature,  and  the 
demonstration  in  the  courts  of  New  York  that  the  election  of 
Mayor  McClellan  was  not  a  forced  or  fraudulent  one,  but  repre- 
sented a  clear  plurality  of  the  votes  cast,  and  that  he  held  title 
by  right  and  not  by  control  of  the  counting  of  the  vote.  The 
judge  who  presided  at  the  recount,  declared: 

It  must  appear  to  you,  as  it  does  to  me,  that  the  accuracy 
of  the  original  canvass  was  quite  as  complete  and  certain  as  the 
one  reached  here  by  this  body.  The  evidence  disclosed  here 
that  there  was  no  fraud  so  far  as  the  conduct  of  the  election 
officers  was  concerned,  and  we  found  in  the  boxes  votes  that 
corresponded  to  the  record  they  made  of  the  official  returns  upon 
that  night.  I  only  speak  of  this  for  the  purpose  of  exonerating 
those  men  from  the  charge  of  fraud  that  was  made  here. 

It  is  encouraging  to  have  demonstrated  that  the  election 
machinery  of  Greater  New  York  was  responsive  to  the  people's 
will  and  had  not  been  subjected  to  the  strain  of  fraudulent  manip- 
ulation. While  it  was  shown  that  there  were  some  mistakes 
in  the  counting  of  the  complicated  ballot  and  some  few  frauds, 
these  were  not  sufficient  to  affect  the  result,  nor  to  justify  the 
claim  that  the  election  had  been  a  fraudulent  one. 

It  is  quite  impossible  in  a  review  such  as  this  to  refer  in  detail 
to  the  persistent  activities  of  organizations  like  the  Citizens 
Union  in  New  York,  which  maintains  a  legislative  agent  at  Albany 
and  keeps  close  watch  not  only  on  all  the  bills  introduced  there, 
but  on  all  legislation  undertaken  at  the  City  Hall;  nor  to  the 
numerous  gains  in  local  civic  work  such  as  are  reported  for 
Buffalo,  including  the  inauguration  of  work  similar  to  that  of 
the  New  York  Citizens  Union  and  the  Bureau  of  ]\Iunicipal 
Research.    Suffice  it  to  say,  in  this  connection,  for  these  cities 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


and  for  all  the  cities  of  New  York  and  practically  for  all  the 
cities  of  any  size  or  consequence  in  the  United  States,  that  there 
are  local  agencies  constantly  at  work  to  give  the  voters  definite 
information  in  regard  to  pending  issues  and  to  arouse  the  citizens 
to  their  civic  duties.  It  is  because  of  the  great  amount  of  work 
being  done  along  these  lines,  frequently  unheralded  and  vmre- 
garded,  that  the  close  students  of  mimicipal  development  feel 
encouraged  not  only  about  the  present,  but  about  the  future 
of  mimicipal  government  in  America. 

From  Philadelphia  comes  word  that  at  the  recent  election 
upwards  of  72,000  voters  took  the  trouble  to  vote  for  a  candi- 
date who  was  on  neither  the  Republican  nor  Democratic  ticket, 
and  who  represented  in  his  candidacy  the  desires  of  the  inde- 
-..^»-'  pendently  inclined  citizens  of  that  community. 
Philadelphia  J  The  Philadelphia  Party's  candidate  for  sheriff 
in  a  campaign  of  little  more  than  a  fortnight 
secured  this  remarkable  expression  of  public  interest;  and  al- 
though he  was  not  successful  in  secvuing  the  election,  his  vote 
demonstrates  that  the  people  of  Philadelphia  are  not  asleep  at 
the  switch,  are  not  wholly  indifferent  to  their  political  duties, 
and  are  wilUng  to  stand  up  and  be  covmted,  even  though  to  do 
this  requires  the  careful  marking  of  a  very  complicated  ballot. 

Mayor  Guthrie's  splendid  work  in  Pittsburgh  has  been  told 
at  length  in  other  connections.  It  is  sufficient  in  this  connection 
to  say  that  he  has  more  than  justified  the  confidence  reposed  in 
him  at  the  time  of  his  election.  He  has  introduced  new  stand- 
ards of  public  administration;  he  has  labored 
Pittsburgh  incessantly  for  the  best  interests  of  the  com- 
and  munity;  he  has  sought  in  every  way  within 

Mayor  Guthrie  his  power  to  fight  corruption,  to  advance  the 
interests  of  the  city,  to  place  the  community 
and  its  interests  above  all  other  considerations. 

In  every  department  of  mvmicipal  activity  the  influence  of  his 
personal  character  and  his  devotion  to  duty  is  to  be  seen,  and 
his  influence  will  be  felt  for  many  years  to  come;  because  he 
has  made  the  repetition  of  old  conditions  in  many  instances 
impossible  and  has  estabUshed  new  standards,  which  will  soon 
harden  into  custom. 


I90  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


Mayor  Guthrie  is  ineligible  for  reelection,  so  he  can  not  in 
his  own  person  continue  the  work  which  he  has  inaugurated; 
but,  irrespective  of  whom  his  successor  may  be,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  next  administration  will  be  influenced  by  the 
present  in  every  particular.  There  may  be  some  reaction,  due 
to  a  feeling  of  security  upon  the  part  of  the  people;  but  such 
reaction  if  it  should  come  is  destined  to  be  a  shortlived  one,  and 
then  the  splendid  forward  movement  will  continue  and  sweep 
on  to  larger  and  completer  victories  that  not  even  Mayor  Guthrie 
himself  anticipated. 

Everett  Colby  won  a  significant  triumph  in  the  primaries 
against  the  reactionary  forces  in  his  senatorial  district  in  north- 
em  New  Jersey.  Although  he  was  defeated  by  a  sUght  margin 
at  the  general  election,  it  was  only  brought  about 
Everett  Colby's  by  the  machine  establishing  a  record  of  inde- 
Fight  pendence  in  local  and  state  affairs  that  will 

come  back  in  the  very  near  future  to  plague 
those  who  established  the  precedent.  Verily,  Senator  Colby's 
defeat  is  a  victory  in  disguise.  Men  like  him  and  the  ideas 
for  which  he  stands  may  suffer  temporary  setbacks;  but,  founded 
as  they  are,  upon  a  firm  basis  of  public  policy,  they  can  not  be 
permanently  defeated.  They  must  sooner  or  later  come  to 
the  front.  The  delay  in  establishing  them  will  in  the  nature  of 
things  be,  but  brief,  and  will  in  all  likelihood  prove  to  be  for  the 
best  in  the  long  run. 

South  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  municipal  development, 
although  slow,  continues  to  grow  steadily.  The  Baltimore  Re- 
form League  has  had  a  useful  year's  activity.  From  Louisville 
comes  word  of  improvement  in  mimicipal  administration  as 
a  result  of  the  recent  overthrow  of  the  machine  there.  An 
active  member  of  the  National  Municipal  League  is  authority 
for  the  statement  that  they  have 

a  most  excellent  set  of  men  on  the  Board  of  Safety  and  of  Control. 

These  boards  have  charge  of  the  police  and  fire 
Reform  in  departments  and  the  public  building  and  con- 
the  South  struction  of  streets,  sewers,  etc.    The  police 

and  firemen  have  been  taken  out  of  politics,  so 
far  as  it  is  possible  to  do  so.  We  are  therefore  practically  sure 
of  fair  elections.    We  have  the  most  efficient  department  of 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


191 


police  since  my  recollection  of  such  matters;  our  aldermen  are  a 
fine  set  of  men — our  best  citizens;  and  their  efforts  have  been 
along  high  lines. 

When  one  compares  this  with  what  prevailed  in  the  city  only 
two  short  years  ago,  and  recalls  that  fraud  and  corruption  held 
high  carnival  at  the  election,  he  can  not  help  but  feel  that  progress 
is  being  made  even  if  the  report  above  quoted  is  somewhat 
enthusiastic;  although  it  comes  from  one  who  is  not  a  political 
partisan  of  the  administration  in  power. 

We  must  not  overlook,  however,  that  there  has  been  no 
eflFort  made  to  change  the  method  of  the  nomination  of  officials 
in  Louisville  or  Kentucky;  and  that  there  has  been  no  improve- 
ment in  municipal  accounting  or  reporting,  nor,  indeed,  along 
any  of  the  legislative  lines  which  are  regarded  as  helpful  to  the 
permanent  introduction  of  improved  conditions.  Nevertheless, 
it  is  a  decided  gain  to  have  a  competent  administration  suc- 
ceed a  bad  one,  even  if  its  control  of  affairs  is  but  temporary;  for 
it  will  certainly  make  the  recurrence  of  the  old  conditions  more 
difficult,  and  the  return  of  improved  conditions  easier. 

Birmingham,  Alabama,  is  enjoying  the  benefits  of  a  clean, 
decent,  honest,  aggressive  administration.  Three  years  and  a 
half  ago  George  B.  Ward,  the  present  mayor,  was  employed  in 
a  bank  and  had  never  taken  any  active  part  in  professional 
politics.  He  had  no  reputation  as  a  speech- 
Birmingham  maker  and  none  as  a  "mixer;"  but  he  did  know 
how  to  attend  to  the  bank's  business.  The 
independent  party  in  looking  around  for  a  candidate  came 
across  him,  and  picked  him  out  as  the  kind  of  man  it  wanted 
He  was  nominated  and  elected ;  and  he  was  inducted  into  office. 
He  found,  however,  that  he  had  a  pretty  serious  task  before 
him.  The  city  council  was  not  changed,  nor  were  the  prominent 
citizens  who  enjoyed  the  perpetual  street  railway  franchises  and 
other  valuable  public  utilities;  some  of  the  public  and  some 
of  the  lower  courts  were  in  pretty  bad  condition;  and  law- 
enforcement  seemed  to  be  a  forgotten  principle  in  public  affairs. 

Efforts  were  made  to  bully  the  mayor  on  the  one  hand,  and 
persuade  him  when  that  policy  was  not  effective.  Various 
efforts  to  embarrass  him  were  made;  and  there  was  no  stickling 


192  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 

at  the  methods  adopted.  He  kept  steadily  before  him,  however, 
his  public  duty,  and  appealed  to  the  moral  element  of  the  com- 
munity; and  now  he  is  winning  out,  not  only  along  political 
lines  but  along  civic  lines  as  well;  and  he  has  made  the  name 
of  Birmingham  known  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  country,  in  many  places  where  it  was  unknown  before,  by 
his  successful  method  of  enlisting  the  people  in  personal  activity 
along  the  lines  of  definite  civic  endeavor. 

Mayor  Malone,  of  Memphis,  Tennessee,  another  independent 
mayor,  has  had  similar  troubles — and  a  few  more.   Indeed,  he  had 

,  .  to  defend  the  very  life  of  th e  city  government 

Memphis  ,    ,    .  ,  ,  .„         ,7      ,  , 

agamst  the  legislature,  a  bill  repealing  the  law 

under  which  he  was  elected  having  been  passed  and  a  new 
system  established.  The  supreme  court,  however,  declared 
the  effort  to  be  illegal  and  unconstitutional ;  and  Mayor  Malone 
was  permitted  to  carry  on  his  far-reaching  reforms.  Although 
nominated  by  a  mass  meeting  and  defeating  the  former  mayor, 
who  claimed  to  be  the  regular  nominee  of  his  party,  he  has  now 
been  endorsed  by  those  who  formerly  most  bitterly  opposed 
him. 

The  Texas  cities — especially  Galveston,  Houston  and  Dallas 
— continue  to  contribute  interesting  experiences,  especially  along 
the  line  of  the  effective  working  out  of  the  Galveston  plan.  As 
a  Dallas  correspondent  puts  it: 

It  is  my  deliberate  opinion  that  we  can  and  have  accom- 
plished more  in  one  year  under  a  commission  form  of  government 
than  in  five  years  under  the  old  form  of  government.  Not  only 
that,  but  I  believe  the  taxpayers  are  getting  full  value  for  their 
money.  A  short  time  since  the  city  officials  were  called  upon 
to  make  the  tax  rate  for  the  coming  year.  On  account  of  the 
great  increase  in  assessments  from  forty-nine  million  in  1907 
to  sixty  million  in  1908  the  question  of  reducing  the  tax  rate 
came  before  the  city  officials,  and  at  that  time  many  of  the 
heaviest  taxpayers  of  the  city  petitioned  the  city  officials  not 
to  reduce  the  tax  rate,  giving  as  their  reason  that  they  were 
satisfied  the  city  officials  were  wisely  and  honestly  using  the 
taxes  for  the  promotion  of  the  city's  welfare,  and  therefore 
they  would  prefer  under  such  conditions  to  continue  the  present 
rate  of  taxes  rather  than  to  see  the  tax  rate  lowered,  this  being, 
in  my  judgment,  a  tribute  to  the  efficiency  and  ability  of  the 
officers  of  our  present  form  of  government. 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


193 


Cincinnati  took  an  encouraging  step  forward  at  the  election 
on  November  3,  wherein  it  defeated  the  "Cox  nominees"  for 
the  judge  of  the  common  pleas  bench  and  for 
Cincinnati  prosecuting  attorney.    They  are  to  be  sup- 

planted by  City  Party  men.  The  independent 
forces  of  the  city  have  been  put  in  control  of  the  most  important 
engine  for  the  exposure  of  municipal  evils  in  the  whole  scheme 
of  government;  and  if  it  can  not  now  expose  the  municipal 
corruption  and  break  up  the  pernicious  machine  that  it  has  for 
years  been  working  to  destroy,  there  will  be,  very  naturally, 
keen  disappointment.  It  is  not  likely,  however,  that  Henry 
T.  Hunt,  the  new  prosecuting  attorney,  who  has  long  been 
identified  with  forward  movements  in  Cincinnati  and  who 
as  a  member  of  the  National  Municipal  League  has  shown  his 
interest  in  the  wider  work  for  municipal  improvement,  will 
disappoint  those  who  have  placed  confidence  in  him.  As  the 
Citizen's  Bulletin  of  Cincinnati  editorially  declared: 

The  election  of  Mr.  Hunt  will  change  the  complexion  of 
things.  He  will  make  grafting  as  dangerous  in  Cincinnati  as 
Mr.  Heney  has  made  it  in  San  Francisco.  He  will  drive  the 
boodlers  from  Cincinnati  as  Joe  Folk  drove  them  from  St.  Louis. 
As  courageous  as  Jerome,  but  more  persistent  and  unrelenting, 
Mr.  Hunt  will  be  a  terror  to  all  evil-doers.  He  will  let  no  guilty 
man  escape.  He  is  as  incorruptible  as  he  is  fearless.  He  will 
do  his  duty  at  all  costs  and  at  all  hazards;  he  will  not  permit 
fear  or  favor  to  swerve  him  from  the  pursuit  of  law-breakers, 
no  matter  who  they  may  be.  He  is  an  ideal  man  for  the  place. 
To  fail  to  elect  him  will  be  to  the  eternal  discredit  of  Cincinnati. 
The  issue  is  joined.  Shall  sterling  worth  be  recognized,  or  shall 
there  be  a  perpetuation  of  boss  rule?  And  what  this  last  means 
we  all  know.  It  is  about  time  for  Cincinnati  to  cease  degrading 
itself  by  wallowing  in  the  filth  of  machine  politics.  Let  us 
elect  a  brave  and  incorruptible  man  to  the  office  of  Prosecuting 
Attorney.    And  that  man  is  Henry  T.  Hunt! 

There  is  plainly  a  progressive  interest  in  Indiana  in  all  that 
relates  to  local  government  reform.    It  has  been  steadily  spread- 
ing from  the  larger  to  the  smaller  communities 
Indiana  of  the  states  during  the  past  few  years.  There 

has  been  an  exposure  of  graft  and  bribery  in 
many  local  offices,  followed  by  indictments,  trials,  and  in  one  case 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


a  conviction  and  a  penitentiary  sentence  and  in  another  case 
a  most  suspicious  acquittal,  which  really  did  more  to  accentuate 
the  need  for  further  effective  work  than  a  conviction  could. 
Public  sentiment  is  in  an  excited  and  sensitive  state  on  the 
whole  subject  of  local  conditions.  The  influence  of  the  brewery 
in  politics  has  assumed  a  commanding  importance  in  the  public 
mind ;  and  zeal  for  the  restriction  of  the  liquor  traffic  has  assumed 
proportions  almost  unprecedented.  Out  of  such  public  excite- 
ment much  good  may  confidently  be  expected;  but  it  is  some- 
what difficult  to  forecast  what  line  of  work  will  be  the  one  in 
which  reform  may  make  itself  permanently  effective. 

Two  years  ago  in  Indianapolis  a  Democratic  auditor  and  a 
Democratic  prosecutor  were  elected.  They  were  the  only  Demo- 
crats on  the  county  ticket  who  pulled  through.  They  have 
been  a  great  assistance,  however,  in  imearthing  the  graft  and 
dishonesty.  Two  ex-county  officers  are  now  being  sued,  many 
thousands  of  dollars  have  been  paid  into  the  treasury  by  others 
and  a  county  commissioner  was  acquitted  in  a  sort  of  "not 
guilty,  but  don't  do  it  again"  fashion. 

In  city  affairs,  the  agent  for  an  asphalt  company  has  been 
sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  conspiracy  to  steal  money  from  the 
city;  and  the  president  of  the  company  is  awaiting  trial.  Prob- 
ably the  most  hopeful  thing,  however  that  has  occurred  in  the 
city  in  many  years,  is  the  movement  inaugurated  a  short  time 
ago  by  the  Merchants  Association.  Appalled  by  the  exposiires 
of  the  past  few  years,  its  board  of  directors  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  investigate  the  situation  and  propose  a  remedy.  This 
committee  concluded,  with  common  sense,  that  it  was  better 
to  strike  at  the  root  of  the  evil,  rather  than  to  send  a  few  victims 
of  a  bad  system  to  the  penitentiary.  A  public  annovmcement 
is  made  of  their  views;  and,  among  other  things,  the  association 
recommended  legislation  which  will  require  the  turning  of  all 
fees  into  the  public  treasury  and  will  place  all  pubUc  officials 
on  a  definite  salary.  Moreover,  county  auditors  are  to  be  given 
power  to  audit  county  accounts.  The  auditor  of  Marion  County, 
in  which  Indianapolis,  the  capital  of  the  state,  is  located,  has 
never  audited  the  accounts  of  the  coiinty  commissioners.  It 
is  proposed  to  give  the  auditor  of  the  state  power,  in  turn,  to 


i 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


195 


supervise  the  accounts  of  the  county  auditor's  office,  and  to 
estabUsh  a  uniform  system  of  bookkeeping  and  reporting. 

Moreover,  the  Association  is  urging  a  radical  reform  in  the 
system  of  jury  drawing ;  and  it  is  proposed  to  give  the  minority 
members  of  the  grand  jury  power  to  call  to  the  attention  of  the 
governor  those  things  which  they  believe  constitute  abuses  by 
the  public  officials,  if  the  majority  of  the  grand  jury  fail  to  indict. 

The  declaration  of  principles  announced  by  the  Merchants 
Association  as  just  outlined,  has  been  endorsed  by  practically 
all  the  civic  bodies  in  the  city,  by  the  labor  unions,  by  the 
bankers  and  by  various  organizations  of  public-spirited  men. 
The  candidates  on  both  tickets  pledged  their  support  to  the 
whole  program,  which  is  a  non-partisan  one  and  is  recognized 
as  being  truly  in  the  interest  of  the  citizens  and  taxpayer.  The 
present  indications  are,  that  important  reforms  will  be  instituted 
in  the  conduct  of  local  affairs. 

Although  the  preliminary  report  of  the  Chicago  Municipal 
Voters  League  was  somewhat  pessimistic  regarding  the  local 
situation,  the  League  was  never  more  successful 
Chicago  than  in  the  election  of  last  April,  which  showed 

that  the  people  were  prepared  to  support  a 
progressive  movement  that  is  vigorous  and  courageous  without 
being  crazy.  In  a  number  of  contests  at  the  primaries  the 
League  was  successful  in  about  half  of  the  cases  in  which  it 
took  action ;  but  the  situation  is  better  than  those  figures  would 
indicate,  for  the  reason  that  the  contests  which  were  won,  were 
among  the  most  important. 

Twenty-four  of  the  thirty-five  aldermen  chosen  in  April, 
carried  the  League's  endorsement;  while  nine  were  elected  in 
opposition  to  the  League.  As  to  there  maining  two,  neither 
opposition  nor  endorsement  was  offered.  The  League  made 
especially  important  fights  in  three  wards,  winning  two  and 
losing  the  third  by  a  narrow  majority.  In  each  case  the  voters 
sustained  the  League's  contention  that  non-partisanship  should 
govern  purely  municipal  elections. 

The  Legislative  Voters  League,  which  proposes  to  do  for 
the  state  legislatiire  what  the  Chicago  League  has  done  for 
the  local  legislature,  took  a  more  active  and  extensive  part  in 


196  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


the  campaign  just  concluded  than  at  any  previous  period  in  its 
history.    It  took  a  specially  prominent  part  at 

Illinois  the  primaries  held  on  August  8.    The  following 

summary  of  its  performance  in  this  connection  is 

interesting  and  suggestive: 


Endorsed ,  usually  on  their  legislative  records   55 

Commended,  having  no  legislative  records   31 

No  comment  for  lack  of  necessary  information   63 

Condemned  on  their  legislative  records,  in  most 
cases  without  hope  of  defeating  them,  owing  to 

political  conditions   40 

Opposed  for  other  reasons   5 

Not  recommended   11 

Records  mixed  as  in  parts  unsatisfactory   9 


Owing  to  the  Illinois  cumulative  voting  system  on  candidates 
for  the  house  of  representatives  nominations  in  most  cases  were 
practically  equivalent  to  election.  The  results  above  tabulated 
indicate  that  the  League  accomplished  about  twenty  times  as 
much  as  in  the  previous  seven  years  of  its  existence  put  together. 
This  was  due  to  the  opportimities  afforded  by  the  new  direct 
primary  law  at  its  first  test. 

Aside  from  the  formal  records  made  at  Springfield,  the  League's 
sources  of  information  were  principally  its  advisory  covmcils  of 
four  to  six  members  in  each  senatorial  district.  These  councils 
have  been  organized  in  every  senatorial  district  (51  in  number) 
in  the  state.  Most  of  them  did  careful  and  conscientious  work. 
About  forty  held  from  one  to  six  meetings  each,  and  made  formal 
reports.  In  a  number  of  instances  the  members  of  the  council 
investigated  qualifications  of  candidates  and  sent  in  their  views. 
In  only  four  or  five  districts  did  the  councils  fail  to  make  reports; 
and  in  these  cases  it  was  usually  because  of  unavoidable  circum- 
stances, such,  for  instance,  as  wide  separation  of  the  members 
in  the  districts  containing  five  or  six  counties  each. 

The  "Senate  combine,"  as  it  is  locally  known,  had  a  severe 
lesson;  and  the  effects  of  the  League's  campaign  are  botmd  to 
be  salutary.    Present  indications  are  that  there  will  be  a  new 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


197 


and  a  much  cleaner  organization  of  the  senate  in  the  next  general 
assembly.  Except  in  one  district  where  the  League  spent  $1 50.00, 
its  total  expenditure  was  in  no  district  more  than  $60.00. 

Milwaukee's  municipal  election  offered  practically  no  groimd 
for  encouragement.  It  was  a  clean  Democratic  sweep,  reac- 
tionary in  its  character  and  discouraging  in  its 
Milwaukee  results.  In  a  way  it  was  a  rebuke  to  the  recent 
administration  which  was  not  taken  seriously 
but  was  also  due,  in  large  part,  to  the  weaknesses  of  the  existing 
electoral  system  and  contrivances.  The  reactionary  impulse 
alone  would  not  again  have  elected,  for  the  fifth  time,  David  S. 
Rose  as  mayor  of  the  city,  had  it  not  proved  that  many  thousand 
voters,  educated  as  well  as  illiterate,  found  it  more  convenient 
and  comfortable  to  vote  a  straight  party  ticket  on  the  voting 
machine  than  to  take  the  time  and  trouble  to  vote  their  con- 
victions. Moreover,  there  was  a  fear  lest  the  Socialist  candidate, 
who  had  a  large  personal  following  should  succeed  and  inaugurate 
radical  administration,  notwithstanding  that  the  Social  Dem- 
ocratic candidate  was  generally  conceded  to  be  personally  the 
best  qualified  and  cleanest  of  the  three.  As  it  was,  he  ran  second 
in  the  contest. 

Notwithstanding  the  tendency  just  noted,  we  are  told  that 
there  was  never  a  greater  sentiment  nor  a  larger  intention  to 
spUt  the  ticket,  and  even  the  primaries  showed  a  large  independ- 
ent vote ;  but  the  feature  of  the  law  which  confined  the  ^voter's 
independent  expression  to  selecting  the  party  ticket  which  most 
appealed  to  him,  and  confining  himself  to  it  at  the  primaries, 
defeated  the  best  candidate  for  the  mayoralty  nomination;  and 
then  the  restriction  in  the  law  that  no  voter  could  remain  more 
than  sixty  seconds  at  the  voting  machine,  forced  many  an  other- 
wise independently  inclined  elector  to  vote  a  straight  ticket. 

The  same  story  of  the  inadequacy  of  the  voting  machine  comes 
from  Minneapolis,  where  in  the  recent  primaries  and  general 
election  several  thousands  of  voters  left  the  polls 
Minneapolis  without  voting,  because  the  machines  were 
so  difficult  of  operation.  In  a  large  number 
of  precincts,  voters  waited  from  one  to  three  hours  to  get  a 
chance  at  the  machine.    This,  of  course,  is  too  much  to  ask  of 


198 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


the  business,  professional  or  working  man.  Within  the  limi- 
tation of  rapidity,  the  machines  otherwise  worked  successfully. 
166  were  used  and  31,000  votes  were  recorded  at  the  primary 
election,  a  falling  off  of  13,000  from  the  primary  election  of  two 
years  ago.  A  factor  in  the  situation,  however,  was  the  large 
size  of  the  election  districts. 

MinneapoHs  is  in  the  midst  of  another  great  upheaval  which 
in  the  judgment  of  those  who  are  studying  the  situation 

Will  discount  the  old  "Doc"  Ames  mess  of  1902  by  a  large 
margin.  The  present  investigation  began  with  the  board  of 
education,  starting  early  last  stunmer  with  the  employment 
of  the  son  of  W.  J.  Bums  of  San  Francisco  to  handle  the  investi- 
gating end.  It  has  been  known  for  several  years  that  at  least 
one  member  of  the  board  of  education  was  a  bad  grafter.  It 
was  also  known  that  the  business  methods  of  the  board  were 
not  entirely  up  to  date.  The  graft  member  of  the  board  was 
made  the  target  of  the  investigators.  He  was  landed  definitely 
more  than  a  month  ago,  and  indicted  on  several  cotmts  a  couple 
of  weeks  ago  by  the  present  grand  jury.  One  other  member 
of  the  board  of  education  has  retired  to  the  Northern  woods, 
a  very  sick  man,  and  the  others  are  vainly  trying  to  stem  the 
tide  of  criticism  and  indignation.  Revelations  of  official  rotten- 
ness connected  with  the  present  city  administration — the  mayor's 
part  of  it — have  been  coming  before  the  grand  jury  for  the  past 
ten  days.  There  is  strong  evidence  of  a  condition  of  vicious  wide- 
openness  rivahng  that  of  the  Doc  Ames  regime,  with  protection 
furnished  by  people  high  up  in  the  cotmcils  of  the  administration 
and  also  very  close  personally  to  the  mayor.  The  parties  thus 
far  known  to  be  indicted  are  saloon-keepers,  but  there  is  bigger 
game  to  come. 

I  should  say,  in  connection  with  the  school-board  investiga- 
tion, that  the  evidence  seems  to  point  to  the  local  agent  of  the 
American  School  Book  Company  as  being  the  most  dangerous 
factor  in  the  scheme  of  school  board  graft.  He  is  a  very  clever 
individual,  and  has  wielded  a  large  influence  in  board  affairs, 
both  here  and  in  St.  Paul.  It  is  possible  he  will  be  bagged,  but 
he  is  so  clever  and  resourceful  that  I  hardly  dare  hope  for  such 
a  consummation. 

Des  Moines  is  trying  the  experiment  of  a  modified  form  of 
the  Galveston  plan.  The  commission  which  was  elected  has 
entered  with  vigor  and  intelligence  upon  the  discharge  of  its 
duties  and,  with  the  cooperation  of  the  newspapers  and  the 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


199 


people  of  the  city,  is  seeking  to  inaugurate  the  system  in  the 
spirit  in  which  it  was  enacted.  Two  groups  en- 
Des  Moines  deavored  to  control  the  election ;  one  known  as 
the  old  "City  Hall  gang,"  and  the  other  as  the 
"silk  stocking  crowd, "  which  had  much  to  do  with  originating  of 
the  now  widely  known  Des  Moines  plan.  The  election,  however, 
resulted  in  the  defeat  of  both  factions  and  a  victory  for  John 
Mc Vicar,  a  former  mayor,  who  for  many  years  has  been  the 
Secretary  of  the  League  of  the  American  Municipalities,  and  has 
a  well  deserved  reputation  as  a  speciaUst  in  municipal  subjects — 
and  several  other  radical  candidates,  including  two  labor  candi- 
dates. The  mayor  was  the  only  one  of  the  "City  Hall  gang" 
who  succeeded ;  and  he  is  known  as  an  excellent  man.  The 
public  utility  people  tried  to  defeat  him  with  a  man  of  their 
own;  but  were  not  successful.  The  mayor,  as  he  is  known,  was 
generally  regarded  as  a  "wide-open"  candidate;  but  as  the  new 
city  government  announced  a  policy  of  strict  enforcement  of  the 
law,  which  policy  it  is  adhering  to,  "it  would  appear  that  the 
item  of  mayor  is  not  overwhelmingly  important  under  the  Des 
Moines  plan." 

A  determined  effort  was  made  in  Kansas  City  to  reelect  Mayor 
Beardsley,  who  had  made  an  enviable  record  during  the  last 

two  years.  He  had  accomplished  more  in  actual 
Mayor  results  than  any  mayor  the  city  had  ever  had. 

Beardsley  and  His  advocates  pointed  out  that  he  had  secured 
Kansas  City       natural  gas  for  the  city  at  25  cents  per 

thousand  feet  and  in  so  doing  had  fought 
and  defeated  not  only  the  local  gas  company  but  the  United 
Gas  Improvement  Company  of  North  America,  and  the  Kansas 
Natural  Gas  Company— all  backed  up  by  the  Standard  Oil 
Company;  that  he  had  fought  and  defeated  the  Metropolitan 
Street  Railway  Company  in  an  important  contest,  and  that  the 
Metropolitan  in  the  campaign  was  fighting  Mr.  Beardsley;  that 
in  the  contest  for  a  new  union  depot  and  terminal  facilities, 
Mr.  Beardsley  had  held  his  own  against  27  railroads  and  had 
protected  the  rights  of  the  people  at  every  point  and  was  about 
to  close  negotiations  for  these  important  improvements;  that 
he  had  been  largely  instrumental  in  securing  the  passage  of  the 


200  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


law  by  the  last  legislatiire  known  as  the  Enabling  Act,  which 
gave  to  the  cities  of  Missouri  power  to  regulate  pubUc  utilities; 
that  when  he  had  taken  office,  there  was  a  deficit  in  the  pubUc 
treasury  of  $310,000;  that  this  had  been  paid  off  and  over  $700,- 
000  had  been  spent  in  public  improvements  out  of  the  general 
revenue  and  there  was  a  $100,000  surplus. 

It  is  plain  to  be  seen  that  to  accomplish  these  important 
restdts,  Mayor  Beardsley  had  made  many  enemies,  who  not 
unnaturally,  as  all  too  frequently  occurs,  pooled  their  issues  to 
defeat  him.  It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  the  man  that 
they  used  to  defeat  Mr.  Beardsley  will  prove  to  be  a  pliable  tool. 
Indeed,  there  are  not  many  who  believe  that  the  successful 
opponent  will  dare  to  throw  open  "the  gates  of  graft  as  they 
were  at  one  time  in  Kansas  City. "  Whether  Mayor  Crittenden 
justifies  the  confidence  of  his  supporters  and  his  well-wishers, 
it  nevertheless  remains  that  Kansas  City  has  lost  the  services, 
in  the  defeat  of  Mr.  Beardsley,  of  a  man  who  was  rapidly  becom- 
ing a  municipal  expert,  and  who  from  the  standpoint  of  charac- 
ter was  absolutely  true  and  tmswerving.  As  one  observer  who 
is  not  a  political  partisan  of  Mr.  Beardsley  declared: 

He  comes  nearer  being  the  ideal  man  for  the  position  than  any 
man  I  have  known  in  this  city  or  any  other  city;  and  yet  the 
people  rejected  him  with  their  eyes  open. 

There  is  no  reason,  however,  to  be  discouraged  over  the  situa- 
tion in  Kansas  City,  any  more  than  there  is  reason  to  feel  down- 
hearted by  the  defeat  of  Everett  Colby.  These  men  and  their 
followers  and  their  prototypes  in  the  various  parts  of  the  country 
are  soldiers  in  a  great  battle;  they  have  enlisted  for  the  war 
and  they  expect  occasional  defeat.  Naturally  they  do  not 
crave  it ;  but  when  it  comes,  they  view  their  defeat  philosoph- 
ically and  gird  on  their  armor  for  more  vigorous  warfare. 

Denver  has  demonstrated  its  independence  by  reelecting 
Judge  Lindsey^  as  a  county  court  judge  over  the  regular  Repub- 

Ucan  and  Democratic  candidates ;  and  word  comes 
Denver  from  the  same  city  that  the  election  before  last 

was  considered  by  many  of  the  leading  citi- 
zens to  have  been  the  first  honest  election  held  for  many  years. 

'  Ben  B.  Lindsey  was  reSlected  juvenile  judge  by  32,000  votes  out  of  a 
total  of  65,022  cast  for  three  candidates  for  the  office.    The  republican 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


20 1 


San  Francisco  has  taken  a  great  step  forward  within  the  last 
year.  From  a  wicked  and  corrupt  administration,  well  up  in 
the  first  rank  of  all  cities  which  have  Indulged  in  that  direction, 
it  has  advanced,  to  quote  a  thoughtful  observer,  to  the  other 
extreme  of  an  almost  ideal  administration.  The  entire  board 
of  supervisors  and  the  mayor  of  the  city  are 
San  Francisco  now  beyond  reproach ;  and  the  city  has  men 
engaged  in  its  affairs  who  could  not  have  been 
induced  to  take  the  positions  except  for  the  support  of  a  full  body 
of  good  men  working  together,  and  from  the  genuine  patriotism 
aroused  by  the  previous  corrupt  administrations.  May  this  spirit 
of  patriotism  and  self-sacrifice  continue  until  it  becomes  the  estab- 
lished practice  of  the  commimity. 

San  Francisco  has  a  huge  undertaking,  however,  to  reestablish 
upon  a  really  high  plane  a  government  which  has  been  so  thor- 
oughly run  down;  and  much  time  will  be  required  to  work  out 
its  salvation.  If,  however,  its  competent  men  are  willing  to 
place  the  community's  interests  above  their  own  and  will  con- 
candidate  secured  15,294  votes  and  the  democratic  candidate  17,728. 
Judge  Lindsey's  plurality  was  14,272  and  he  canae  within  1022  of  polling 
as  many  votes  as  his  two  opponents  together.  If  the  3000  scratched 
ballots  intended  for  him  and  thrown  out  as  defective  had  been  counted, 
he  would  have  had  more  votes  than  his  opponents. 

Judge  Lindsey's  campaign  lasted  but  three  weeks.  It  was  a  lively  one, 
culminating  on  election  day  with  "his"  boys  at  every  precinct  working 
for  him.  The  judge  refused  to  permit  any  organized  work  by  the  young- 
sters, but  there  was  no  stopping  them.  "The  kids  were  ever jnvhere," 
he  writes.  ' '  It  was  mighty  interesting  to  see  these  boys,  particularly  the 
bright  Jewish  boys,  standing  on  a  box  talking  to  a  crowd  of  factory  oper- 
atives at  the  noon  hour,  telling  them  how  to  scratch  their  tickets." 

Politicians  had  declared  that  the  judge  had  no  chance  of  election,  not 
only  on  account  of  the  organized  opposition  of  both  parties,  but  because 
of  the  difficulty  of  scratching  the  Colorado  ballot.  But  it  did  not  work 
out  that  way.  It  might  be  surmised,  as  one  observer  put  the  case,  that 
ballot  scratching  which  can  be  explained  in  public  by  boys  is  not — at  any 
rate,  it  ought  not  to  be — beyond  the  intelligence  of  a  voter.  Judge  Lind- 
sey  was  given  a  hearing  in  the  churches  and  the  women's  clubs.  Both 
helped  him,  but  he  was  elected,  he  believes,  by  the  votes  of  men  and  women 
who  knew  his  work  either  through  its  results  in  their  own  families,  or  in 
the  families  of  friends  and  neighbors.  His  term  of  office  is  for  four  years 
from  January  i,  1909. — Editor. 


202  AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  TENDENCIES 


tinue  in  the  course  they  have  already  begun,  there  can  be  no 
question  as  to  what  the  results, will  be.  Already  there  is  difficulty 
experienced  in  securing,  in  the  various  subordinate  places,  men 
of  an  equally  high  type.  The  various  commissioners'  terms  of 
office  expire  but  one  at  a  time,  and  year  by  year;  so  that  they 
are  replaced  only  gradually.  It  will  therefore  be  some  time 
before  they  are  placed  on  so  high  a  plane  as  the  legislative  branch 
of  the  government. 

Los  Angeles  continues  to  afford  interesting  and  encouraging 
experiences.  The  most  notable  of  the  last  year  has  been  the 
effort  to  secure  a  new  charter.  The  present  one  is  somewhat 
outgrown,  although  containing  many  excellent  features.  It  was 
proposed  to  substitute  a  new  charter  for  the  present  meastire; 
and  the  mayor  accordingly  appointed  a  committee  representing 
the  various  commercial,  civic  and  industrial  organizations,  to 
draft  one.  In  order  that  it  might  be  made  effective  during  the 
coming  session  of  the  legislature,  this  committee  requested  the 
city  council  to  call  an  election  of  fifteen  freeholders  for  the  formal 
presentation  of  the  new  charter  to  the  pubUc.  One  of  the  pro- 
visions of  the  new  charter  was  the  election  of  councilmen  at 
large,  instead  of  by  wards.  This  did  not  meet  the  approval  of 
the  council;  and  they  declined  to  call  an  election.  This  appar- 
ently put  a  quietus  upon  the  plan  for  a  new 
Los  Angeles  charter;  but  as  there  is  a  constitutional  pro- 
vision in  the  state  that  a  certain  percentage  of 
voters  may  present  amendments  to  a  city  charter  and  that  the 
calling  of  an  election  to  ratify  the  same  is  mandatory  upon  the 
city  council,  the  Municipal  League  came  to  the  rescue  of  the 
Charter  Commission  and  secured  sufficient  signatures  for  the 
calling  of  such  an  election,  at  which  a  series  of  important  amend- 
ments will  be  voted  upon.  If  these  amendments  carry,  the  city 
will  be  in  pretty  good  shape,  as  the  more  important  reforms  will 
be  achieved.    The  amendments  proposed  are: 

(i)  Increasing  the  powers  of  the  city  and  providing  for  the 
ownership  and  operation  of  municipal  gas  and  electric  plants ;  the 
construction  and  operation  of  conduits,  railroads,  steam  and  elec- 
tric, and  providing  for  the  disposal  of  surplus  water  and  electric 
power  to  other  municipal  corporations ;  to  acquire  and  construct 
and  operate  public  wharves,  docks,  piers,  etc., at  San  Pedro  Harbor. 


CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 


203 


(2)  To  prevent  the  sale  by  the  city  of  any  public  wharf,  dock, 
railroad,  canal,  conduit,  water,  gas  or  electric  system  or  any 
public  utility  now  or  hereafter  owned  without  the  assent  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  qualified  voters. 

(3)  Providing  that  the  bed  of  the  Los  Angeles  River,  which 
passes  through  the  center  of  the  city,  shall  never  be  sold,  leased 
or  alienated  in  any  way,  but  the  whole  thereof  shall  be  kept 
at  all  times  for  municipal  purposes. 

(4)  Providing  for  the  election  of  councilmen  at  large  instead 
of  by  wards. 

(5)  An  article  defining  the  powers  of  the  Board  of  Public 
Works  with  reference  to  the  Owens  River  Aqueduct. 

(6)  Providing  for  direct  primary  elections  in  the  city  of 
Los  Angeles. 

(7)  Giving  the  mayor  power  to  veto  contracts  involving  the 
payment  of  more  than  $500.00. 

(8)  Providing  for  the  bonding  of  city  employees. 

This  concludes  the  annual  survey  of  municipal  events.  It 
must  be  admitted  that,  taken  by  and  large,  it  presents  grounds 
for  reasonable  encouragement.  The  municipal  millennium  is 
not  at  hand ;  but  the  developments  which  we  find  on  every  side 
are  such  as  to  justify  the  expectation  that  the  cities  of  the  country 
are  rapidly  freeing  themselves  from  the  opprobrium  that  they 
were  the  worst  governed  municipalities  in  the  world. 


charter  Tendencies  in  Recent  Years. 


By  PROFESSOR  JOHN  A.  FAIRLIE,> 
University  of  Michigan. 

It  was  ten  years  ago,  at  the  Indianapolis  meeting  of  the 
National  Municipal  League,  that  the  League's  Committee  on 
Municipal  Program,  made  its  report  presenting  a  plan  for  con- 
structive legislation  for  the  betterment  of  municipal  govern- 
ment in  the  United  States.  It  is  my  task  to  sketch  the  general 
tendencies  that  appear  in  municipal  legislation  in  the  United 
States  mainly  since  that  report  was  presented,  indicating  the 
application  of  the  principles  of  the  League's  program  and  also 
the  development  in  other  directions.  For  this  purpose  it  seems 
best  to  consider  first  the  methods  of  formulating  and  enacting 
such  legislation  and  later  the  substantive  changes  in  the  organ- 
ization of  municipal  government,  the  scope  of  municipal  powers 
and  the  regulation  of  franchises  and  municipal  accounts. 

In  spite  of  numerous  prohibitions  and  restrictions  on  special 
legislation  in  state  constitutions,  ten  years  ago  city  government 
in  this  country  was  still  regulated  in  the  main  by  special  acts 
of  the  state  legislatures.  Even  where  general 
Methods  of  laws  were  required,  by  the  device  of  classifica- 
Legislation  tion  legislation  for  all  cities  of  importance  in 
practice  applied  to  individual  cities,  and  was  sub- 
ject to  frequent  and  often  arbitrary  changes.  In  four  states — 
Missouri,  California,  Washington  and  (after  1896)  Minnesota — 
some  cities  had  power  to  adopt  their  O'wn  charters  of  government ; 
but  even  in  these  states  but  few  cities  had  made  use  of  this 
power. 

The  Municipal  Program  proposed  a  series  of  constitutional 
provisions  establishing  certain  general  principles,  and  a  general 
municipal  corporations  act  applicable  aUke  to  all  cities,  and 

'Member,  Michigan  Constitutional  Convention,  1908. — Editor. 

(204) 


JOHN  A.  FAIRLIE 


205 


authorized  cities  of  over  25,000  population  to  frame  and  adopt 
their  own  charters  subject  to  the  constitution  and  general  laws 
of  the  state. 

During  the  past  decade  there  has  been  enacted  a  vast  volume 
of  additional  municipal  legislation,  by  various  methods,  special 
acts  of  the  state  legislature  have  continued,  and  form  the  greatest 
bulk  of  this  legislation ,  while  for  the  largest  cities  special  legislation 
is  still  the  general  system.  But  even  in  regard  to  special  legislation 
the  principle  of  home  rule  has  come  to  be  more  generally  recognized ; 

and  most  of  the  special  acts  have  been  passed 
Growth  of  as  the  result  of  local  initiative  and  sometimes 

Municipal  as  the  outcome  of  organized  action  in  the  local 

Home  Rule        community.    The  greater  New  York  charter 

of  1897  and  the  revision  of  1901  were  framed 
by  local  commissions;  and  special  legislation  in  that  state  must 
imder  the  constitution  of  1894,  be  submitted  to  the  city  authori- 
ties and  if  disapproved  must  be  repassed  by  the  legislature. 
Special  legislation  for  Chicago,  authorized  by  an  amendment 
to  the  Illinois  Constitution,  is  subject  to  a  local  referendum;  and 
the  general  revision  of  the  city  charter  submitted  in  1907  was 
prepared  by  a  local  convention.  The  general  revision  of  the 
charter  of  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan  in  1905,  was  theresult  of  local 
discussion  and  was  formulated  by  the  local  authorities.  And 
the  recent  special  acts  establishing  the  "commission  plan"  of 
city  government  in  Texas  cities  have  been  due  to  the  local  efforts 
of  the  cities. 

On  the  other  hand  there  have  also  been  some  striking  cases 
of  special  legislation  enacted  by  secret  and  political  influences 
without  the  knowledge  or  consent  of  the  local  communities. 
The  "ripper  bills"  for  Detroit,  Pittsburg  and  other  Pennsylvania 
cities  in  1901,  and  the  amendments  to  the  Philadelphia  charter 
in  1905  are  notable  instances.  But  these  have  been  on  the 
whole  exceptional;  and  the  antagonism  aroused  by  this  pro- 
cedure make  it  seem  probable  that  such  methods  are  not  likely 
to  be  repeated  often  in  the  future. 

More  significant  has  been  the  increased  number  of  city  charters 
framed  and  adopted  by  the  cities  themselves  under  provisions 
of  the  state  constitutions.    To  the  fotir  states  previously  author- 


2o6 


CHARTER  TENDENCIES  IN  RECENT  YEARS 


izing  this  method  there  have  been  added  Colorado  in  1902,  Ore- 
gon in  1906,  Oklahoma  in  1907  and  Michigan  during  the  present 
year.  In  the  states  authorizing  this  method  before  1898  there 
had  been  but  few  cases  where  the  power  had  been  exercised;  St. 
Louis  and  Kansas  City  were  the  only  important  examples.  But 
in  1898  San  Francisco  adopted  its  own  charter,  and  there  are 
now  twenty  or  more  home  rule  charters  in  California.  In 
Minnesota  about  a  dozen  cities  have  formed  their  own  charter, 
Denver  acted  under  the  Colorado  provision  in  1904. 

There  are  considerable  differences  of  detail  in  the  provisions 
of  the  various  state  constitutions  providing  for  home  rule  charters. 
But  these  cannot  be  discussed  in  this  brief  summary  of  general 
tendencies.  A  few  words  may  however  be  added  in  regard  to 
the  provisions  in  the  revised  Michigan  Constitution  which  has 
just  been  adopted.  This  is  the  first  state  east  of  the  Mississippi 
River  to  accept  this  method  of  municipal  legislation;  and  this 

action  indicates  that  the  movement  is  likely 
Michigan's  to  make  headway  even  in  the  older  states. 
New  Consti-  The  Michigan  Constitution  distinctly  recognizes 
tution  that  city  charters  shall  be  subject  to  the  general 

laws  of  the  state;  and  it  leaves  to  the  legisla- 
ture the  duty  of  prescribing  the  detailed  method  by  which  char- 
ters shall  be  framed  and  adopted  by  the  electors  of  each  city  or 
village. 

Alongside  of  these  tendencies  there  have  been  enacted  in  several 
states  during  the  past  decade  a  number  of  important  general 
laws  on  municipal  government.  In  New  York  a  general  law 
for  cities  of  the  second  class  was  passed  in  1898  and  went  into 
force  in  1900.  A  Pennsylvania  act  of  1901  applied  to  the  three 
cities  of  the  second  class  in  that  state.  The  Virginia  Constitu- 
tion of  1902  contained  important  provisions  on  municipal  govern- 
ment, and  a  new  general  law  was  enacted  the  following  year. 
In  1902,  owing  to  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio,  a 
general  law  was  passed  in  that  state  abolishing  the  former  absurd 
classification  of  cities.  In  1903  the  New  Jersey  legislature 
enacted  an  optional  general  law.  In  1905  a  new  general  law 
was  passed  in  Indiana,  reducing  the  number  of  classes  of  cities 
to  five  and  simplifying  the  system  of  organization.    On  the 


J 


JOHN  A.  FAIRLIE 


207 


other  hand  a  commission  appointed  in  Connecticut  1905  to  con- 
sider the  question  of  a  general  law  reported  that  this  was  imprac- 
ticable. 

At  first  sight  this  legislation  seems  to  be  in  direct  conflict 
with  the  tendency  towards  a  greater  degree  of  home  rule  seen 
in  the  methods  previously  considered.  To  some  extent  these 
general  laws  do  restrict  variations  in  the  form  of  municipal 
organization;  and  the  Ohio  code  particularly  imposed  a  rigid 
system  of  boards  on  large  and  small  cities  alike.  But  the 
general  legislation  also  prevents  arbitrary  action  by  the  legis- 
ture  with  regard  to  particular  cities,  and  its  main  tendency  is 
towards  an  increase  of  municipal  autonomy.  Under  general 
laws  all  cities  are  granted  the  same  powers;  and  more  power  is 
necessarily  left  to  each  city  to  regulate  its  local  affairs  than 
under  the  system  of  special  legislation.  As  home  rule  charters 
are  in  most  states  subject  to  the  general  laws  of  the  states,  the 
two  methods  tend  to  produce  somewhat  similar  results. 

Most  of  the  general  laws,  however,  still  prescribe  the  local 
organization  too  much  in  detail ;  and  in  that  respect  fail  to  follow 
the  principles  of  the  municipal  program.  The  provisions  of  the 
revised  Michigan  constitution  are  more  closely  in  accord  with 
these  principles.  The  legislature  in  this  state  is  to  provide 
simply  for  the  "incorporation"  of  cities  by  general  laws,  under 
which  each  cit)  has  power  to  frame  its  own  charter.  It  is 
expected  that  under  these  provisions  the  general  laws  will  be 
limited  to  broad  principles  of  general  application,  while  the 
detailed  machinery  of  local  organization  will  be  worked  out  for 
each  city  by  itself. 

In  regard  to  municipal  organization,  the  municipal  program 
provided  for  the  separation  of  legislative  from  administrative 
functions,  for  the  centralization  of  adminis- 
Organization  trative  power  by  giving  the  mayor  power  to 
of  City  appoint  and  remove  heads  of  departments  and 

Government  for  applying  the  merit  system  to  subordinate 
positions.  Amid  a  considerable  variety  in  the 
detailed  methods,  the  legislation  of  the  past  ten  years  shows  a 
distinct  advance  in  the  adoption  of  these  principles.  The 
separation  of  legislative  from  administrative  ftmctions  is  an 


2o8         CHARTER  TENDENCIES  IN  RECENT  YEARS 


important  feature  of  both  the  Ohio  and  Indiana  municipal  codes 
and  appears  also  in  many  of  the  special  acts  and  home  rule 
charters.  Where  special  acts  are  still  used,  however,  the  legis- 
lative powers  of  city  councils  are  still  of  small  importance  and 
the  result  under  these  conditions  has  been  to  accentuate  the 
chief  executive.  The  recent  general  laws,  however,  add  to  the 
legislative  authority  of  the  councils;  while  where  cities  have 
power  to  frame  their  own  charters  there  is  a  large  power  of  local 
legislation  exercised  either  by  the  charter  convention,  the  city 
council  or  by  the  direct  vote  of  the  city  electors. 

In  the  organization  of  municipal  councils  the  principal  change 
has  been  to  provide  for  the  election  of  some  part  of  the  council 
at  large.*  This  is  done  in  the  new  general  laws  of  Ohio  and 
Indiana,  is  the  usual  rule  in  Iowa  cities  and  has  been  introduced 
by  special  act  in  a  number  of  Massachusetts  cities. 

The  centralization  of  administrative  power  is  a  marked  charac- 
teristic of  nearly  all  the  recent  municipal  legislation,  although 
in  some  cases  this  has  taken  other  forms  than 
Administrative  that  recommended  in  the  Municipal  Program. 
Centralization  In  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  Indiana,  and 
to  some  extent  in  other  cities,  this  centra- 
lization has  been  secured  by  the  development  of  the  mayor's 
authority;  but  as  in  these  states  the  legislative  powers  of  the 
city  councils  have  not  been  increased  to  any  marked  extent, 
the  balance  between  the  executive  and  legislative  branches  of 
city  government  has  not  been  preserved. 

The  recent  movement  for  the  "commission  plan"  of  city 
government  in  Texas,  Iowa  and  other  states  represents  in 
another  form  the  same  tendency  to  centralization  of  administra- 
tive power.  At  first  sight  the  distinction  between  legislation 
and  administration  seems  to  be  abandoned  by  this  plan.  But 
in  fact  the  powers  of  the  commission  are  almost  entirely  adminis- 
trative; and  the  legislative  authority  is  exercised  in  framing 
the  city  charter  or  by  the  electors  of  the  city  through  referendum 
votes  on  important  questions.  In  one  important  respect,  how- 
ever, the  commission  plan  carries  centralization  beyond  the 

'  Compare  with  Secretary's  review,  "American  Municipal  Tendencies," 
p.  163. 


JOHN  A.  FAIRLIE  209 

principles  of  the  Municipal  Program  and  beyond  the  generally 
accepted  principles  of  American  government — in  authorizing 
appropriations  and  taxes  to  be  voted  by  the  same  officials  who 
are  charged  with  the  expenditure.  This  feature  of  the  com- 
mission plan  requires  further  evidence  of  its  success  before  it 
is  generally  adopted. 

Even  the  Ohio  municipal  code  of  1902,  which  in  many  respects 
failed  to  follow  the  recent  tendencies  in  legislation,  provides  to 
some  degree  for  a  greater  centralization  in  administration  than 
formerly  existed  in  that  state.  The  boards  of  public  service 
combined  the  functions  of  several  former  authorities  and  are  the 
principal  administrative  bodies  in  the  Ohio  cities.  The  amend- 
ments to  this  code  which  go  into  effect  next  year  will  bring 
about  further  centralization. 

The  merit  system  in  cities  has  also  made  decided  progress 
during  the  past  decade.  Much  the  most  important  measure  has 
been  the  new  civil  service  law  passed  by  the 
The  Merit  New  York  legislature  in   1899,  carrying  out 

System  effectively  the  provisions  of  the  state  consti- 

tution of  1894,  and  under  which  the  merit 
system  has  been  established  in  all  the  cities  of  that  state,  under 
the  supervision  of  the  state  civil  service  commission.  Other 
important  cities  where  the  merit  system  has  been  introduced 
for  the  whole  municipal  service  are  San  Francisco  in  1900,  Los 
Angeles  in  1902,  Denver  in  1904,  Pittsburg  and  Scranton  in  1907, 
while  the  "Des  Moines  plan"  and  the  new  Kansas  City  charter 
(1908)  provides  for  its  introduction  in  these  cities.  In  other 
states  and  cities  the  principles  of  the  merit  system  have  been 
applied  to  some  extent.  The  Ohio  code  of  1902  provides  for 
a  system  of  competitive  examination  for  the  police  and  fire 
departments,  administered,  however,  by  the  board  of  public 
safety.  A  New  Jersey  law  of  1905  established  the  merit  system 
for  the  police  and  fire  departments  in  cities  of  the  first  class. 
The  merit  system  has  been  applied  to  the  police  and  fire  depart- 
ments in  a  score  of  Wisconsin  cities.  The  Indiana  code  of  1905 
contains  a  vague  provision  authorizing  the  mayor  and  heads 
of  departments  to  adopt  rules  for  determining  the  fitness  of 
candidates  and  for  appointments  to  positions  in  the  city  service. 


2IO 


CHARTER  TENDENCIES  IN  RECENT  YEARS 


These  laws  have  been  administered  with  varying  degrees  of 
effectiveness.  Notably  in  San  Francisco  the  objects  of  the  law 
were  openly  violated  for  a  number  of  years,  before  the  recent 
upheaval  in  that  city.  But  the  provisions  in  the  laws  and  city 
charters  indicate  that  this  reform  is  making  progress;  and  in 
most  cases  there  has  been  a  distinct  improvement  in  the  stand- 
ards of  administration  and  a  decline  in  the  operation  of  the 
spoils  system.^ 

The  reduction  of  partisan  political  influences  in  municipal 
elections  is  aimed  at  in  the  Municipal  Program  by  provisions  for 

separating  municipal  from  state  and  national 
Partisan  elections,  and    for  non-partisan  nominations. 

Political  The  separation  of  municipal  from  national  elec- 

Influences  tions  has  always  been  the  general  rule  in  this 

country  (New  York  has  been  a  notable  excep- 
tion) and  this  rule  has  been  continued  in  most  recent  legisla- 
tion. In  Ohio  and  Indiana  the  date  for  municipal  elections  has 
been  changed  from  the  spring  to  November;  but  these  elections 
come  in  years  when  there  are  no  national  or  state  elections.^  In 
Michigan,  however,  municipal  elections  in  a  few  cities  have  been 
placed  at  the  same  time  as  the  general  state  and  congressional 
elections. 

Non-partisan  nominations  have  made  some  progress;  but  as 
yet  comparativly  little.  The  movement  for  direct  nominations 
that  has  spread  so  rapidly  in  recent  years  has  for  the  most  part 
been  based  on  the  existing  national  parties,  although  in  some 
cases  the  primary  laws  make  it  easy  for  voters  of  one  party  to 
vote  on  the  nomination  of  candidates  of  their  opponents.  A  dis- 
tinct recognition  of  non-partisan  nominations  has,  however, 
been  authorized  in  the  recent  Iowa  law,  adopted  in  Des  Moines 
and  Cedar  Rapids.  The  city  of  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  has  also 
voted  for  a  non-partisan  method  of  nominations  for  municipal 
offices ;  and  the  charter  proposed  for  Chicago  by  the  local  charter 

*  Compare  with  Secretary's  review  "American  Municipal  Tendencies." 

'  Constitutional  amendments  to  the  same  effect  have  been  passed  by 
one  session  of  the  Pennsylvania  legislature  and  will  be  submitted  to  the 
1909  session. — Editor. 


JOHN  A.  PAIRLIE 


i  1 1 


convention  provided  for  the  elimination  of  the  circle  for  straight 
party  voting.  But  in  neither  of  these  two  cases  has  the  neces- 
sary legislation  been  secured. 

The  prevailing  tendency  of  legislation,  both  general  and 
special,  in  regard  to  the  scope  of  municipal  function  has  been 
in  the  direction  of  increasing  the  powers  of 
The  Scope  of      municipalities;  but  at  the  same  time  this  has 
Municipal  been  done  for  the  most  part  by  specific  enumer- 

Powers  ated  grants,  which  require  frequent  additions 

to  meet  the  needs  of  growing  cities  and  the 
demands  of  public  opinion.  Thus  in  each  legislative  period 
there  are  passed  hundreds  of  acts  authorizing  local  street  and 
sewer  improvements,  parks,  garbage  and  sewage  disposal  works, 
additional  sanitary  regulations  and  other  powers  long  recognized 
as  within  the  proper  scope  of  municipal  action.  Into  the  details 
of  such  statutes  it  is  unnecessary  to  go. 

Nevertheless  there  have  been,  during  the  past  ten  years  a 
number  of  measures  of  greater  significance.  The  general  laws 
of  Virginia,  Ohio  and  Indiana  grant  the  same  substantive  powers 
to  all  cities  in  these  states ;  and  the  smaller  cities  are  thus  vested 
with  authority  to  undertake  such  works  as  have  been  already 
established  in  larger  cities.  Thus  municipal  waterworks  and 
lighting  plants  are  authorized  both  in  Ohio  and  Indiana.  Acts 
of  special  importance  for  the  two  largest  cities  in  the  country 
were  those  establishing  the  tenement  house  department  in  New 
York  City  (190 1),  enlarging  the  powers  of  New  York  City  to 
construct  rapid  transit  subways  and  an  Illinois  law  of  1903 
authorizing  municipal  street  railways. 

In  those  states  where  cities  have  authority  to  make  their  own 
charters  the  scope  of  municipal  authority  is  clearly  more  exten- 
sive. But  in  most  of  these  states  the  constitutional  provisions 
deal  for  the  most  part  with  the  detailed  method  of  framing 
and  adopting  charters  and  contain  no  definite  statement  as 
to  the  extent  of  the  power  that  may  be  exercised.  Judicial 
decisions  have,  however,  held  that  the  power  to  make  city 
charters  does  not  exempt  the  cities  from  state  legislation  in  re- 
gard to  elections,  judicial  courts,  police,  county  officers  or  edu- 
cation; but  in  California  an  amendment  to  the  constitutional 


2xa         CHARTER  TENDENCIES  INfRECENT  YEARS 


provision  specifically  authorizes  local  charters  to  establish  police 
courts.* 

The  provisions  in  the  revised  Michigan  constitution  are  much 
more  definite  in  expressing  the  scope  of  municipal  powers,  which 
are  however  granted  in  broad  terms  and  more  nearly  agree  with 
the  principles  of  the  municipal  program  than  in  any  other  state. 
The  section  authorizing  home  rule  charters  further  provides  that 
each  city  and  village  shall  have  power  and  authority  "through 
its  regularly  constituted  authority,  to  pass  all  laws  and  ordi- 
nances relating  to  its  municipal  concerns,  subject  to  the  con- 
stitution and  general  laws  of  the  state."'  Other  sections 
specifically  authorize  any  city  or  village  to 
Michigan  and  acquire  and  maintain  "parks,  boulevards,  ceme- 
Oklahoma  teries,  hospitals,  almshouses  and  all  works 
which  involve  the  public  health  or  safety, "and 
on  a  three-fifths  vote  of  the  electors  to  acquire  and  operate 
"public  utilities  for  supplying  water,  light,  heat,  power  and  trans- 
portation," transportation  facilities  being,  however,  restricted 
to  cities  of  over  25,000  population. 

The  Oklahoma  Constitution  has  a  provision  apparently  more 
sweeping,  that  every  municipal  corporation  "shall  have  the  right 
to  engage  in  any  business  or  enterprise  which  may  be  engaged 
in  by  a  person,  firm  or  corporation,  by  virtue  of  a  franchise  from 
said  corporation."  But  this  provision  -will  need  to  be  supple- 
mented by  legislation  granting  adequate  financial  powers;  while 
the  Michigan  constitution  provides  for  financing  public  utilities 
by  the  issue  of  bonds  beyond  the  general  debt  limit  secured  by 
the  property  and  revenues  of  the  utility. 

In  the  recent  legislation  on  municipal  government  there  are 
some  significant  tendencies  in  regard  to  the  grant  of  franchises 
in  the  public  streets  and  tmiform  municipal  accounting — two 
subjects  given  special  attention  in  the  Municipal  Program. 

In  regard  to  franchises  important  regulations  have  been  pre- 

*  M.  R.  Maltbie:  "City  Made  Charters,"  in  Municipal  Journal  and  Engi- 
neer, vol.  18,  p.  257.— J.  A.  F. 

'  Dr.  Fairlie  as  a  member  of  the  Michigan  Constitutional  Convention 
had  a  large  share  in  securing  the  inclusion  of  such  excellent  features  as  it 
contains. — Editor. 


JOHN  A.  FAIRLIE 


213 


scribed  in  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Virginia,  Indiana,  Michigan, 
Wisconsin,  Kansas  and  also  in  other  states  as 
Franchises  and  well  as  in  charters  for  particular  cities,  notably 
Accounts  in  the  Grand  Rapids  Charter  of  1905.  The 

most  usual  provision  is  the  limitation  of  fran- 
chise grants  to  a  period  ranging  from  20  to  30  years  in  the  various 
laws.  This  principle  of  a  limited  duration  for  franchise  grants 
has  gained  rapid  headway.  But,  in  contrast  with  the  general 
tendency,  a  recent  Ohio  law  permits  50  year  grants,  and  the 
Indiana  Code  of  1905  removed  the  limitations  previously  exist- 
ing on  the  duration  of  future  franchise  grants.  Requirements 
of  public  notice,  competitive  bidding  and  a  popular  referendum 
for  franchise  grants  are  to  be  fovmd  in  a  number  of  recent  charters 
and  general  laws.  But  such  provisions  are  not  so  general  as 
the  limitation  on  the  duration  of  such  grants. 

Regulation  by  local  authorities  of  rates  and  service  for  public 
utiHties  is  provided  for  by  recent  laws  in  a  nimiber  of  states, 
mostly  west  of  the  Mississippi  River, — Mississippi,  Missouri, 
Arkansas,  Kansas  and  Texas.  In  other  cases  powers  of  regu- 
lation have  been  reserved  by  the  cities  in  franchise  grants,  most 
notably  in  the  Chicago  street  railway  agreement  of  1907. 

In  New  York  and  Wisconsin,  the  system  of  regulating  and 
supervising  municipal  franchise  corporations  through  state  com- 
missions has  been  most  highly  developed  by  acts  passed  in  1907. 

The  main  tendency  is  thus  towards  stricter  conditions  and 
greater  regulation  of  companies  operating  public  utilities  under 
franchise  grants,  though  with  considerable  variety  of  method ; 
and  in  this  field  such  conditions  are  often  imposed  by  state 
laws  for  the  protection  of  the  local  communities  from  their  own 
officials  and  for  the  protection  of  future  generations  against 
careless  grants  by  the  present  inhabitants. 

In  regard  to  uniform  municipal  accounts  and  financial  reports, 
by  far  the  most  important  action  has  been  the  Ohio  law  of 
1902  establishing  an  effective  system  of  uniform 
Uniform  municipal  accounts  in  all  the  cities  of  that  state, 

Accoxmts  subject  to  the  supervision  of  the  auditor  of  state. 

In  New  York,  Massachusetts  and  Iowa  laws 
have  been  enacted  (between  1903  and  1907)  requiring  uniform 


214         CHARTER  TENDENCIES  IN  RECENT  YEARS 


municipal  financial  reports  to  state  officers;  and  in  New  York 
and  Iowa  these  laws  now  authorize  the  state  authority  to  pre- 
scribe the  system  of  accounting.  In  a  score  or  more  of  cities 
in  other  states  various  improvements  in  methods  of  accounting 
and  financial  reports  have  been  introduced.  The  work  of  the 
United  States  Bureau  of  the  Census  in  preparing  its  annual 
reports  on  the  statistics  of  cities  of  over  30,000  population  have 
also  aided  in  securing  comparable  statistics  of  municipal  finance. 
But  this  subject  will  be  more  fully  discussed  at  another  session 
of  the  League. 

In  the  main,  then,  the  principles  of  the  Municipal  Program 
have  been  steadily  gaining  ground.  Its  influence  can  be  seen 
in  the  work  of  state  constitutional  conventions,  in  state  laws 
and  in  charters  for  particular  cities.  In  no  one  place,  however, 
has  it  been  adopted  as  a  whole ;  and  even  where  some  of  its  prin- 
ciples have  been  accepted  the  details  have  often  been  modified. 
Indeed,  in  several  instances,  a  distinct  improvement  has  been 
made  over  the  detailed  provisions  framed  ten  years  ago.  If 
one  general  criticism  may  be  made  of  that  Program,  it  is  that 
the  proposed  constitutional  provisions  are  much  too  long,  and 
specify  detailed  provisions  which  should  rather  be  left  to  regula- 
tion by  statute  or  local  action.  But  the  fundamental  principles 
of  the  Program  still  hold  good;  and  should  and  will  continue 
to  be  extended  even  more  in  the  future  than  in  the  recent  past. 


Permanent  Officials  in  Municipal 
Government 


PROFESSOR  A.  LAWRENCE  LOWELL 
Harvard  University 

Future  historians  will  have  no  difficulty  in  assigning  a  cause 
for  American  shortcomings  in  the  administration  of  cities. 
They  will  point  out  that  in  Europe  great  towns  existed  before 
the  dawn  of  history;  that  the  governments  of  Greece  and  Rome 
developed  in  the  main  out  of  urban  conditions,  and  were  always 
deeply  tinged  with  municipal  ideas.  They  will  note  that  in 
the  middle  ages,  when  the  national  organization  was  essentially 
feudal  and  rural,  the  cities  had  a  vitality  of  their  own  and  pre- 
sented the  nearest  approach  on  a  considerable  scale  to  self- 
government.  They  will  observe,  in  short,  that  urban  adminis- 
tration is  by  no  means  a  new  thing  in  modern  Europe. 

On  the  other  hand,  they  will  perceive  that  local  government 
in  America  was  at  the  outset  almost  entirely  rural  in  character, 
and  long  continued  to  be  mainly  adapted  to  rural  needs.  The 
result  is  that  while  the  problem  of  rural  administration  has 
given  rise  in  the  last  half  century  to  quite  as  serious  considera- 
tion in  Europe  as  the  management  of  cities,  this  has  been  very 
far  from  the  case  in  the  United  States.  Local  government, 
outside  of  the  large  towns,  has  followed  here  a  course  so  smooth 
that  until  scholars  undertook  to  study  the  subject,  a  score  of 
years  ago,  few  educated  men  had  any  clear  conception  of  rural 
institutions  beyond  their  own  section  of  the  country.  The  very 
absence  of  general  discussion  of  the  matter  shows  that  although 
great  diversity  of  method  exists  in  the  different  parts  of  the  nation 
each  system  has  grown  normally  from  prevailing  conditions, 
and  is  fairly  well  suited  to  local  needs ;  while  in  the  case  of  cities, 
where  conscious  imitation  has  been  far  more  common,  discon- 
tent is  well-nigh  iiniversal  throughout  the  land. 

(2IS) 


2i6    PERMANENT  OFFICIALS  IN  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 


Wide  as  the  divergence  is  today  between  the  forms  of  rural 
and  urban  government  in  America  some  principles  appear  to 
have  been  carried  over  from  one  to  the  other  without  regard 

to  their  fitness.  The  needs  of  a  rural  commu- 
Rural  nity  are  comparatively  simple,  and  are  readily 

and  Urban  understood  by  any  intelligent  man.  This  was 
Government  particularly  true  half  a  century  ago.  The 
Contrasted         care  of  the  roads  and  of  elementary  schools, 

the  impounding  of  stray  cattle,  the  assessment 
of  taxes,  were  matters  within  the  knowledge  of  everyone,  and 
could  be  managed  well  enough  by  farmers  of  good  sense  chosen 
by  their  neighbors  to  attend  to  them.  They  required  no  special 
training,  no  corps  of  experts;  and  rotation  in  office  did  not  seri- 
ously interfere  with  efficiency.*  But  such  a  custom  is  quite 
out  of  place  in  the  administration  of  a  great  modem  city,  compli- 
cated as  that  must  be  by  a  variety  of  public  services,  most  of 
which  use  the  results  of  scientific  discovery  and  mechanical 
invention.  The  problems  arising  in  the  supply  of  water,  the 
disposal  of  sewage,  the  maintenance  of  streets,  the  provision  for 
rapid  transit,  the  elaborate  system  of  public  education,  and  the 
treatment  of  disease,  pauperism  and  crime,  are  not  matters  with 
which  even  the  most  active-minded  citizen  is  made  familiar  in 
the  pursuit  of  his  ordinary  vocation.  They  can  be  mastered 
only  by  means  of  special  training  or  long  experience,  and  they 
can  be  handled  efficiently  only  by  persons  who  have  mastered 
them.  In  spite,  moreover,  of  any  professed  faith  in  the  doctrine 
of  rotation  in  office,  the  principle  has  by  no  means  been  strictly 
applied  in  rural  government.  Anyone  familiar  with  New 
England  towns  is  aware  that  there  is  among  the  selectmen  con- 
tinuity enough  to  ensure  the  transmission  of  experience;  and 
the  same  thing  is  no  doubt  true  of  the  trustees  for  townships 

'  Legal  matters  were,  indeed,  early  left  to  men  learned  in  the  law;  and 
although  in  the  trial  of  cases  the  courts  had  the  assistance  of  jurymen,  they 
acted  under  the  guidance  of  a  judge.  The  lawyers  were  the  first  profes- 
sional experts  to  win  recognition  in  the  public  life  of  America,  and  they 
have  retained  their  authority  ever  since.  By  them  the  people  were  saved 
from  the  weakness  and  unrest  caused  by  committing  judicial  matters 
to  non-professional  bodies  in  the  democratic  commonwealth  of  Greece. 


A.  LAWRENCE  LOWELL 


and  the  covinty  commissioners  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 
Whereas  in  our  cities  we  have  constantly  seen  the  head  of  a 
department  suddenly  replaced  by  a  new  man  wholly  unversed 
in  the  business  he  is  called  upon  to  direct. 

Now  the  essential  difference  in  the  methods  of  governing 
Etiropean  and  American  cities  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that 

the  former  are  administered  in  the  main  by 
European  and  permanent  experts.  The  way  in  which  this  is 
American  brought  about  is  not,  indeed,  the  same  in  all 

Cities  countries.    In  Germany  the  participation  of  a 

Contrasted         professional  class  is  prescribed  by  law ;  while  this 

is  not  true,  as  a  rule,  in  England  and  France. 
The  case  of  England  is  especially  striking,  for  there  the  statutes 
are  almost  silent  about  the  qualifications,  the  tenure  and  duties 
of  the  permanent  officials,  and  yet  anyone  who  has  observed 
closely  the  working  of  British  municipal  government  can  hardly 
fail  to  see  that  these  men  supply  the  mainspring  of  the  whole 
machinery.  The  fact  is  very  marked  in  the  great  provincial 
cities  that  are  constantly  held  up  to  us  as  examples  for  our  con- 
trite admiration,  and  it  counts  for  much  in  their  large  meastire 
of  success. 

Shocked  by  the  absurdity  of  discharging  faithful  employees 
in  consequence  of  an  election  turning  on  questions  with  which 
their  duties  have  no  connection,  Americans  have  become  con- 
vinced of  the  need  of  civil  service  reform ;  and  in  order  to  elimi- 
nate politics  they  have  adopted  for  parts  of  the  national  service, 
and  for  many  states  and  cities,  competitive  examinations  for 
appointment.  But  so  far  the  principle  has  been  applied  chiefly 
to  offices  of  a  clerical  or  mechanical  nature.  It  has  not  reached 
positions  involving  much  responsibility  or  discretion,  and  requir- 
ing real  administrative  capacity,  such  as  those  of  postmaster 
or  collector  of  customs  in  a  large  town,  and  those  concerned  with 
the  management  of  city  departments.  Nor  is  it  clear  that  the 
kind  of  competitive  examination  most  commonly  used  hitherto, 
even  if  followed  by  careful  promotion,  would  be  well  adapted  to  the 
selection  of  men  for  such  posts,  because  the  broad  intelligence 
and  sound  judgment  required  can  hardly  be  measured  by  an 
examination  paper  designed  to  test  immediate  fitness  for  special 


2i8   PERMANENT  OFFICIALS  IN  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 


duties.  But  the  fact  that  we  have  not  yet  agreed  upon  a  method 
of  recruiting  experts  of  this  grade  has  no  tendency  to  show  that 
we  do  not  need  them,  or  that  when  the  need  is  generally  recog- 
nized we  shall  not  find  out  how  to  meet  it. 

At  the  present  day  any  work  of  a  complex  nature,  whether 
public  or  private,  which  is  carried  on  without  proper  assistance 
from  experts  is  certain  to  be  inefficient.  But  on  the  other  hand 
experts  acting  alone  are  apt  to  take  disproportionate  views. 
They  exaggerate  technical  difficulties,  or  they  tend  to  follow 
precedents  and  become  tied  up  by  red  tape,  losing  touch  with 
the  real  demands  of  the  public.  A  government  conducted 
solely  by  professional  officials  would  be  undesirable,  even  if  our 
people  would  tolerate  the  idea.  In  order,  therefore,  to  achieve 
good  results,  and  avoid  inefficiency  on  one  side 
The  Expert  and  bureaucracy  on  the  other,  the  administra- 
and  the  tion  must  contain  both  experts  and  men  who 

Overseer  reflect  the  general  trend  of  public  opinion. 

The  proper  relation  between  these  two  classes 
of  men  is  easily  stated,  although  in  all  probability  it  cannot  be 
prescribed  by  statute.  The  current  management,  and  for  the 
most  part  the  suggestion  of  improvements,  ought  to  lie  with 
the  expert,  but  he  ought  to  work  under  the  constant  supervision 
and  control  of  unprofessional  men  representing  the  community 
at  large.  The  expert  ought  to  devote  his  whole  time  to  the 
business,  and  receive  a  salary  high  enough  to  pay  for  the  whole 
time  of  a  man  with  the  capacity  required.  The  person  who 
oversees  him  ought  to  be  expected  to  give  far  less  of  his  time. 
If  he  gives  much  it  is  because  he  undertakes  to  do  himself  what 
had  better  be  left  to  the  expert.  Ordinarily  he  ought  to  do  no 
more  than  a  public-spirited  citizen  should  be  willing  to  do  without 
compensation,  for  his  duty  is  not  to  administer,  but  to  supervise 
and  direct  the  administration. 

Such  a  relation  between  the  expert  and  the  layman  has  grown 
up  spontaneously  in  the  case  of  our  great  commercial  and  educa- 
tional bodies.  The  president  of  a  railroad  or  a  bank  is  today 
an  expert,  and  on  him  falls  the  main  work  of  managing  the 
corporation,  but  he  is  controlled  by  a  board  of  directors  taken 
from  the  business  community.     The  president  of  a  university 


A.  LAWRENCE  LOWELL 


or  college  is  also  an  expert,  under  a  like  supervision  by  a  board 
of  trustees ;  and  one  may  add  that  this  is  approx- 
Experience  imately  the  relation  that  exists  between  the 
of  Business  permanent  head  of  a  department  in  a  typical 
Corporations  English  city  and  the  committee  of  the  council 
entrusted  with  the  care  of  that  department. 
Nor  is  the  same  thing  wholly  unknown  in  American  cities,  for 
certain  municipal  institutions  have  long  been  conducted  on  that 
principle  with  marked  success.  This  is  true,  among  other  exam- 
ples, of  the  City  Hospital  and  Public  Library  of  Boston,  both 
of  which  are  managed  by  experts  working  under  boards  of  unpaid 
commissioners  appointed  by  the  mayor. 

Professor  Goodnow,  who  has  treated  this  subject  in  a  very 
interesting  way,  suggests  that  only  by  means  of  boards  of  com- 
missioners can  permanence  of  tenure  and  popular  non-profes- 
sional administration  be  secured;  that  single-headed  depart- 
ments will  fall  into  the  hands  either  of  an  official  bureaucracy, 
or  of  men  who  make  their  living  out  of  politics  and  from  lack  of 
adequate  training  are  often  not  competent  to  fill  these  offices.* 
But  one  may  doubt  whether  this  is  necessarily  true.  The  plan 
of  combining  an  expert  with  a  non-professional  who  oversees 
him,  and  making  a  sharp  distinction  between  their  positions, 
would  not  seem  to  be  inconsistent  with  any  form  of  municipal 
organization.  A  board  of  lay  commissioners  may  supervise 
an  expert,  as  in  the  case  of  the  committees  of  an  English  borough 
council,  or  a  single  unprofessional  chief  may  do  so,  as  in  the  case 
of  an  English  minister  placed  over  his  permanent  under-secretary. 
In  a  small  town  the  mayor  might  be  the  sole  non-professional 
officer  supervising  the  work  of  a  corps  of  permanent  experts,  but 
in  a  city  of  any  size  this  would  probably  be  beyond  his  powers. 
There  is  nothing  impossible,  however,  in  his  having  a  cabinet 
of  non-professional  assistants  each  of  whom  superintends  the 
work  of  one  or  more  permanent  experts  in  charge  of  departments. 
The  essential  point  is  to  distinguish  clearly  between  the  expert 
and  the  layman;  not  to  prescribe  their  functions,  but  to  make 
the  distinction  itself  obvious,  for  without  this  the  functions  will 
not  tend  to  adjust  themselves. 

*  "City  Government  in  the  United  States,"  191,  et  seq. 


2  20   PERMANENT  OFFICIALS  IN  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 


Now  the  plan  for  a  model  charter  prepared  by  the  National 
Municipal  League  does  not  do  this.  Read  in  the  light  of 
^j^^  the  reports  which  explain   it,  that  scheme  is 

.  .    .  certainly  designed   to  encourage  permanence 

_  of  tenure  by  the  heads  of  departments,  and 

Program  ^  ^,  ••,     ,  i  , 

yet  they  are  evidently  not  supposed  to  de- 
vote their  lives  to  public  work  as  a  profession.  They  are 
treated  differently  from  their  subordinates,  who  are  placed 
under  a  merit  system,  have  some  protection  from  arbitrary 
removal  for  political  reasons,  and  are  intended  to  be  for  strictly 
permanent.  On  the  other  hand  no  provision  is  made  placing 
under  them  professional  administrators  of  high  grade  in  charge 
of  the  various  services,  and  the  heads  of  departments  are  not 
treated  as  if  their  duties  were  confined  to  an  oversight  and  control 
of  the  work  of  such  men.  In  short,  it  is  not  clear  whether  they 
are  meant  to  be  experts  or  not.  It  may,  indeed,  be  hard  to 
find  either  experts  or  laymen  competent  to  fill  these  positions, 
Surely  experts  will  not  be  anxious  to  serve  unless  they  have 
reason  to  believe  that  they  will  remain  during  good  behavior; 
and  men  who  are  not  already  familiar  with  the  work  can  hardly 
learn  to  do  it  really  well  before  they  are  likely  to  leave  the  office. 
Will  it  not  be  difficult  also  in  the  long  run  to  induce  men  of  first- 
rate  executive  capacity  to  give  up  their  regular  occupation  and 
devote  their  whole  time  to  pubUc  work  of  a  different  kind  for 
an  indefinite  period?  Under  these  conditions  it  would  seem, 
as  Professor  Goodnow  has  pointed  out  in  the  passage  already 
cited,  that  the  heads  of  departments  will  probably  be  recruited 
too  frequently  from  professional  politicians  rather  than  from 
professional  administrators  or  men  of  proved  executive  talent. 

To  go  back  a  step.  If  it  is  wise  to  combine  expert  and  lay 
elements  in  municipal  government,  it  is  necessary  to  draw 
between  them  a  sharp  distinction  based  upon  the  essential 
difference  in  their  positions.  The  expert  is  responsible  for  good 
service  to  his  non-professional  chiefs,  the  latter  for  the  policy 
pursued  to  the  public.  The  expert  must  carry  out  efficiently 
the  work  which  the  community  has  decided  to  do,  and  he  must 
keep  clear  of  politics  in  his  office  or  out  of  it.  He  ought  to  hold 
his  post  permanently,  being  protected  so  far  as  possible  from 


A.  LAWRENCE  LOWELL 


221 


removal,  except  for  cause  arising  from  inefficiency  in  his  work 
or  grave  personal  misconduct.  He  ought  to  devote  his  whole 
time  to  the  city,  preferably  being  forbidden  to  follow  any  pro- 
fession or  business  of  his  own ;  and  he  ought  to 
Expert  be  paid  a  liberal  fixed  salary.    The  non-pro- 

and  Non-  fessional,  whose  principal  function  consists  in 

Professional  bringing  the  expert  administration  into  harmony 
Oversight  with  pubUc  opinion,  ought  to  be  treated  in 

exactly  the  opposite  way.  While  it  is  by  no 
means  necessary  in  order  to  keep  him  in  touch  with  the  com- 
munity that  he  should  be  frequently  changed,  it  is  proper  that, 
as  a  rule,  he  should  give  an  account  of  his  stewardship,  and 
therefore  come  up  for  reelection  or  reappointment,  from  time 
to  time.  The  intervals  ought  to  be  long  enough  for  him  to 
show  what  he  has  done,  not  merely  to  promise  what  he 
will  do,  and  they  ought  to  be  at  fixed  periods.  Then,  apart 
from  the  mayor  of  a  large  city  whose  whole  energy  is,  of  course, 
consumed  in  the  general  oversight  of  the  vast  municipal  activ- 
ities, the  non-professional  ought  not  to  give  time  enough  to 
prevent  attention  to  his  private  affairs,  and  he  ought  to  receive 
little  or  no  pay  for  his  public  services.  This  is  now  the  case 
with  many  commissions,  or  boards,  which  give  all  the  time 
needed  to  their  duties.  There  is,  no  doubt,  a  widespread  feeling 
that  a  single  man,  who  is  expected  to  do  the  work  of  a  whole 
board,  must  devote  a  great  deal  more  time  to  it  than  if  he  had 
colleagues,  and  must  have  a  salary;  but  this  rests  upon  a  mis- 
conception. So  far  as  the  collective  work  of  a  board  is  con- 
cerned one  man  can  get  through  it  much  faster  than  five,  and  in 
a  board  properly  organized,  with  a  permanent  executive  officer, 
the  members  ought  to  do  very  little  outside  of  its  meetings. 

A  system  of  this  kind  would  tend  strongly  both  to  discourage 
the  ward  leader  who  seeks  to  make  a  living  out  of  politics,  and 
to  enlist  the  services  of  public-spirited  citizens  who  are  willing 
to  work  for  their  city.  There  are  no  doubt  difficulties  to  be 
overcome  before  it  could  be  put  in  operation.  One  of  them  Ues 
in  a  prejudice  against '  permanent  officials  as  undemocratic. 
But  it  might  as  well  be  alleged  that  engineers  and  modem 
inventions  in  war  are  undemocratic ;  that  a  true  republic  ought 


22  2    PERMANENT  OFFICIALS  IN  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 


to  go  into  battle  with  bows  and  arrows  against  machine  guns 
worked  by  experts.  In  fact  the  disadvantage  at  which  our 
cities  fight  with  great  pubUc  service  corporations  is  largely  due 
to  the  difference  in  the  caliber  of  the  officials  employed.  What 
chance,  for  example,  has  a  city  represented  by  a  solicitor,  who 
is  perhaps,  changed  at  every  election,  and  is  paid  a  small  salary, 
against  a  great  corporation  which  retains  the  best  legal  talent 

and  pays  for  it  many  times  as  much?  And 
A  Democracy  what  is  true  in  a  legal  contest  is  true  also  of 
Needs  the  comparative   efficiency   in   all   directions.  A 

Best  Tools         democracy,  like  every  other  community,  needs 

the  best  tools  that  it  can  find,  and  the  expert 
of  high  grade  is  the  best  living  tool  of  modern  civilization. 

There  are  other  difficulties,  of  organization  and  of  tradition, 
but  they  can  be  overcome.  If  we  need  a  system  of  this  kind,  a 
system  that  has  made  the  success  of  foreign  cities,  we  cannot 
believe  it  impossible  without  admitting  that  reform  of  municipal 
government  in  America  is  hopeless.  The  first  question  is 
whether  we  want  it  or  not.  The  first  thing  to  do  is  to  recognize 
the  need,  and  the  rest  will  follow.  As  Professor  Goodnow  said, 
in  regard  to  the  use  of  permanent  experts  in  the  higher  posts 
of  the  national  service. 

That  this  can  be  accomplished  by  any  changes  in  the  law 
may,  perhaps,  he  doubted.  That  it  will  be  accomplished,  as 
soon  as  an  educated  and  intelligent  public  demands  it,  is  a  moral 
certainty.' 

'"Politics  and  Administration,"  p.  121. 


The  Initiative,  the  Referendum  and  the 
Recall  in  American  Cities 


ROBERT  TREAT  PAINE,  Jr.,  of  Boston 
Member,  Executive  Committee,  National  Municipal  League 

Direct  legislation  has  been  rapidly  becoming  one  of  the  lead- 
ing questions  in  connection  with  the  government  of  our  cities. 
This  movement  cannot  be  comprehensively  studied  nor  fairly 
and  fully  appreciated  unless,  in  addition  to  its  operation  in  cities, 
its  working  and  results  are  studied  in  states  and  larger  political 
divisions.  Such  a  study  is  however  beyond  the  purpose  and 
scope  of  this  paper  which  is  intended  to  be  a  preliminary  sketch 
of  the  movement  in  American  cities.  Yet  anyone  who  desires 
to  know  "facts"  rather  than  be  content  with  theories  is  advised 
to  examine  direct  legislation  as  actually  applied  in  the  state  of 
Oregon.  Adopted  in  1902,  it  has  been  put  to  extensive  use  in 
1904,  1906  and  1908,  with  results  which  appear  on  analysis  to 
exhibit  striking  political  merits. 

The  referendum  is  an  established  principle  in  American 
political  life.  It  is  not  a  new  fangled  device  as  it  is  charac- 
terized by  opponents.  Apart  from  its  state  use 
Referendum  in  the  adoption  or  amendment  of  state  consti- 
an  Established  tutions  and  on  other  important  subjects,  the 
Principle  number  and  variety  of  question  thus  referred  in 

cities  is  so  large  that  one  who  examines  into  the 
history  of  his  own  and  of  neighboring  cities  will  probably  be  some- 
what amazed  as  to  their  frequency  and  importance.  Aside  from 
its  best-known  use  to  decide  vexatious  topics  like  local  option 
and  prohibition,  the  referendum  is  used  on  financial  questions 
like  issuing  bonds,  and  on  undertaking  new  enterprises,  like 
schools,  hospitals,  public  buildings,  parks,  boulevards,  sewers, 

(223) 


2  24  INITIATIVE,  REFERENDUM  AND  RECALL 


waterworks,  lighting  plants  as  well  as  on  the  most  fvindamental 
questions  like  the  incorporation  of  cities  and  the  acceptance  of 
their  charters.  The  Constitution  of  Massachusetts  by  amend- 
ment adopted  as  early  as  1821,  forbids  the  legislature  to  incor- 
porate any  town  as  a  city  except  with  the  consent  of  a  majority 
vote  of  the  citizens  of  that  town. 

The  direct  legislation  however  to  which  we  are  directing  our 
attention,  introduces  the  distinction  or  differentiation  in  that 
the  people  themselves  determine,  and  not  the  legislature,  or  the 
municipal  legislative  authorities,  as  to  whether  or  not  questions 
shall  be  referred  through  the  referendum  to  a  popular  decision. 
The  referendum  is  not  compulsory:  it  need  not  be  used  unless 
there  is  a  positive  demand  for  it — a  petition  signed  by  a  fixed 
number,  or  percentage,  of  the  voters  asking  for  it.  Its  use  is 
optional.  It  becomes  therefore  a  true  people's  veto  to  be  used 
when  occasion  requires  in  the  judgment  of  the  people  whether 
the  mimicipal  legislative  authorities  so  wish  or  not.  The  people 
thus  become  directly  sovereign  in  regard  to  the  acts  of  their 
own  agents  or  representatives. 

Similarly  the  initiative  takes  its  rise  from  an  initial  action  by 
the  people  in  those  cases  where  their  representatives  appear 
unwilling  to  act  in  accordance  with  the  supposed  will  of  the 
community. 

The  authority  of  James  Bryce  is  not  necessary  to  convince 
Americans  that  the  government  of  their  cities  is  the  conspic- 
uous failure  in  American  poUtical  institutions. 
The  Failure  The  federal  system,  with  its  two  chambers, 

of  Mimicipal  based  on  the  theory  of  checks  and  balances, 
Government  has  been  found  wanting.  Whether  or  not  it 
sufficed  for  earlier  days  of  simpler  reqviirements 
when  the  non-interference  idea  of  government  prevailed  is 
immaterial.  Our  cities  today  face  problems  of  utmost  gravity, 
arising  not  only  out  of  the  great  increase  in  population,  but 
also  out  of  the  far  greater  demands  from  this  congested  urban 
population  which  asks  for  and  should  be  granted  a  higher 
standard  of  comforts  and  necessities.  Modem  civilization  there- 
fore requires  that  city  governments  be  aggressive,  positive 
forces  that  can  grapple  with  and  solve  the  problems  as  they  arise 
or  are  foreseen. 


ROBERT  TREAT  PMNE 


225 


Unfortunately,  in  rather  marked  contrast  with  modem 
Europe  and  England,  our  cities  have  been  mere  creatures  of  the 
legislature  with  enumerated  powers  limited  to  known  require- 
ments. Therefore  every  new  task  has  involved  resort  to  the 
legislature.  Results  have  been  disastrous  both  in  enfeebling 
the  city's  self-reliance  and  civic  character,  and  in  leading  to  an 
tmdue,  injudicious  and  unjustifiable  interference  by  the  state 
authorities. 

So  well  recognized  has  been  this  evil  that  a  majority  of  the 
state  constitutions  now  forbid  the  legislatures  to  interfere  by 
special  legislation.  Owing  however  to  the  legislative  device  of 
classification  this  effort  has  been  but  partially  successful. 

In  the  west  a  remedy  has  been  sought  in  a  different  direction, 
through  the  constitutional  assertion  of  the  independence,  more 
or  less  complete,  of  the  cities  from  the  legislature. 

In  1875  the  constitution  of  Missouri  was  the  first  thus  to  be 
amended  to  give  cities  of  over  100,000  popula- 
Home  Rule  tion,  that  is  St.  Louis,  and  later  Kansas  City, 
Charters  power  to  decide  upon  their  charters  by  a  vote 

of  their  own  citizens. 

California  followed  with  a  constitutional  amendment  in  1879, 
but  provided  that  these  charters  after  adoption  by  the  voters 
must  be  submitted  to  the  legislature  for  ratification  or  rejection 
as  a  whole.  The  popularity  of  this  move  is  evidenced  by  the 
vote  in  its  favor  of  114,617  to  42,076,  in  1892,  when  the  minimum 
limit  of  population,  after  a  previous  reduction  in  1887  to  10,000, 
was  still  further  reduced  to  3400. 

California  further  extended  the  power  of  cities  over  their 
charters  by  amending  article  xi,  sec.  8,  of  the  constitution, 
in  November,  1906,  so  as  to  provide  that  an  initiative  petition 
of  fifteen  per  cent  can  compel  the  submission  to  a  popular  vote  at 
a  regular  municipal  election  of  any  proposed  charter  amend- 
ment. 

In  Oregon  the  constitutional  amendment  granting  the  voters 
of  every  city  and  town  power  to  enact  and  amend  their  municipal 
charters  was  adopted,  on  an  initiative  petition  from  the  people, 
by  a  vote  of  52,567  to  19,852  on  June  4,  1906. 

Washington,  Minnesota,  Colorado  and  Oklahoma  have  carried 


226  INITIATIVE,  REFERENDUM  AND  RECALL 


on  this  home  rule  movement.  In  Michigan  the  constitutional 
convention  inserted  a  home  rule  section  in  the  new  constitution 
which  was  voted  on  and  carried  November  3,  1908. 

But  far  more  widespread  or  at  least  far  more  successful  over 
a  wider  stretch  of  territory  is  the  movement  we  are  now  to 
consider  for  more  direct  and  popular  control 
Direct  by  the  citizens  themselves  of  their  municipal 

Legislation         affairs.    Both  theoretically  and  practically  this 
movement  appears  justified  in  its  aims.  It 
gives  the  best  promise  of  helping  the  ultimate  solution  of  our 
municipal  problems. 

This  movement  is  either  advisory  or  mandatory  in  its  opera- 
tion. The  advisory  system  was  perhaps  the  easier  to  enact,  but 
the  tendency  of  late  has  been  strongly  towards  the  mandatory 
initiative  and  referendum. 

The  advisory  system  aims  to  secure  action  by  city  authorities 
in  conformity  with  the  popular  judgment  through  milder  methods 
than  direct  legislation.    The  voters  are  allowed 
The  Advisory     to  suggest  or  to  express  their  opinion  on  a 
System  course  of  action  without  however  thereby  enact- 

ing such  legislation  or  ordinance.  Such  a  vote 
is  merely  advisory  in  character  and  leaves  the  city  fathers  with 
full  power  to  act  as  they  think  best,  whether  it  be  in  accordance 
with  or  against  the  wishes  of  the  people. 

Winnetka,  Illinois,  is  generally  given  the  credit  for  devising 
the  method  of  securing  a  popular  decision  of  important  questions 
through  pledging  candidates  before  their  election  to  permit  the 
reference  to  the  people  of  such  questions  when  petitioned  for. 
The  council  was  thus  induced  to  pass  an  ordinance  providing  for 
the  submission  to  the  voters  before  their  passage  of  all  ordinances 
for  franchises  or  for  bond  issues  and  also  all  ordinances  for  which 
fifty  voters  may  have  petitioned  within  five  days  after  public 
posting  before  their  passage. 

Geneva,  Ilhnois,  extended  this  system  to  include,  in  addition 
to  the  referendum,  the  advisory  initiative  on  any  public  ques- 
tion when  petitioned  for  by  ten  per  cent  of  the  voters.  Candi- 
dates are  questioned  and  pledged  before  election  to  follow  these 
rules. 


ROBERT  TREAT  PAINE 


337 


This  method  has  been  followed  by  several  cities.  Detroit, 
June  17,  1902,  unanimously  adopted  rules  of  procedure  by 

which  a  petition  of  five  per  cent  of  the  voters 
Detroit  may  force  all  ordinances  granting  or  renewing 

public  utility  franchises,  which  have  passed 
their  third  reading  in  the  council,  to  a  popular  vote  at  the  next 
election,  and  also  any  other  measure  instructing  the  officials. 
A  home  rule  charter  had  been  declared  unconstitutional  by  the 
Supreme  Court,  thus  depriving  the  city  of  the  right  granted 
therein  for  a  referendum  on  street  railway  franchises.  A  long 
term  extension  of  such  a  franchise  was  favored  by  a  majority 
of  the  council  but  having  pledged  themselves  to  a  referendum 
while  candidates  for  office  a  spirited  demonstration  of  the  citizens 
induced  them  to  pass  the  above  rule.  The  proposal  to  extend 
the  franchise  was  thereupon  dropped  in  view  of  the  threatened 
popular  veto. 

The  first  use  in  Detroit  of  the  referendum  on  franchises  was 
made  November  6,  1906,  when  the  Detroit  United  Railway 
franchise  was  rejected  decisively, — and  wisely  according  to  the 
Civic  News,  a  good  government  publication  of  Detroit. 

Such  self-denying  council  rules  are  not  however  either  per- 
manent or  self-enforcing.  A  two-thirds  vote  may  suspend  them 
at  any  time,  perhaps  when  needed  most.  To  secure  their  con- 
tinued annual  adoption  may  require  an  annual  pledging  cam- 
paign. This  year's  manual  of  Detroit  does  not  contain  the 
rule  for  instructing  officials  through  the  initiative.  To  guarantee 
action  by  a  representative  government  in  harmony  with  the 
popular  will  presupposes  not  a  voluntarily  assumed  obligation  of 
a  temporary  and  optional  character,  but  an  obligation  of  superior 
and  controlling  force  embodied  in  the  fundamental  law  or  charter. 

Grand  Rapids,  Michigan,  petitioned  the  legislature  for  a  new 
charter  which  was  approved  June  6,  1905,  granting  a  twelve 
per  cent  referendum  on  any  ordinance  and  a 
Grand  Rapids  twelve  per  cent  initiative  for  an  advisory  vote 
on  charter  amendments.  This  referendum  has 
been  used  twice,  once  to  approve  of  the  franchise  granted  to 
the  Muskegon  Power  Company,  and  once,  November  6,  1906, 
to  reject  an  ordinance  prohibiting  Sunday  shows,  6895  to  6281, 


228  INITIATIVE,  REFERENDUM  AND  RECALL 


Under  the  advisory  initiative  the  voters  have  twice  asked  for 
amendments  to  their  charter;  on  April  2,  1906,  voting  for  an 
advisory  initiative  on  ordinances  by  6196  to  1736  and  for  the 
recall  by  7142  to  1976,  and  on  November  6,  1906,  voting  for 
the  establishment  of  non-partisan  municipal  elections  by  8865 
to  3350.  Though  this  question  carried  every  precinct  in  a 
Republican  city  and  the  total  vote,  12,215,  within  729  of  the 
total  cast  for  governor,  yet  the  Republican  legislature  refused 
to  grant  the  request;  as  it  also  refused  the  other  requests. 

It  is  stated  that  the  above  charter  provisions  are  generally 
considered  beneficial,  though  it  is  felt  that  the  enactment  of 
charter  amendments  should  be  compulsory  after  submission  to 
and  approval  by  the  electors. 

Buffalo,  under  the  general  welfare  clause  of  its  charter  adopted, 
July  13,  1904,  chap.  45,  of  the  city  ordinances,  which  is  still  in 
force,  and  which  authorizes  the  submission  at  a  general  election 
of  any  questions  of  public  policy  to  obtain  the  opinion  of  the 
electors  thereon,  either  on  the  petition  of  five  per  cent  of  the 
voters  or  upon  resolution  of  the  council — November  7,  1905,  such 
an  advisory  initiative  resulted  in  a  vote  of  7767  to  1979,  in 
favor  of  a  municipal  electric  lighting  and  power  plant.  The 
council  took  no  action  to  carry  out  this  vote  but  used  it  to  obtain 
somewhat  more  favorable  prices  from  the  existing  private  com- 
pany. November  3,  1908,  the  advisory  initiative  asking  for  a 
new  charter  with  the  largest  possible  measure  of  home  rule  ob- 
tained the  endorsement  of  13,286  yes  to  4346  no. 

In  Illinois,  a  public  opinion  law  was  enacted  May  4,  1901, 
allowing  questions  to  be  referred  to  the  voters  of  cities  for  an 
expression  of  opinion  on  the  petition  of  twenty- 
Illinois  five  per  cent.  Chicago  has  made  effective  use 
of  this  authority,  voting  in  April,  1902,  for 
direct  primary  nominations  of  city  officers  by  140,860  to  17,654 
and  April  5,  1904,  for  the  popular  election  of  the  school  board 
by  115,553  to  58,432.  Both  at  these  elections,  and  April  4, 
1905,  April  3,  1906,  and  April  2,  1907,  there  were  referendums 
on  the  burning  street  railway  issue.  The  question  has  been  too 
prominent  throughout  the  country  during  all  these  years  to 
need  extended  comment.    The  first  votes  were  overwhelmingly 


ROBERT  TREAT  PAINE 


229 


in  favor  of  municipal  ownership  of  gas  and  electric  lighting  plants 
as  well  as  of  the  street  railways;  139,999  to  21,364,  and  142,826 
to  27,998  respectively,  but  finally  after  a  six  years*  struggle  the 
people  by  165,846  to  132,720,  accepted,  April  2,  1907,  the  council 
ordinances  whereby  great  reforms  were  promised  in  the  service 
under  the  private  management  of  the  companies,  and  fifty-five 
per  cent  of  the  net  profits  was  to  go  to  the  city  treasury. 

In  Canada  this  advisory  system  has  been  authorized  for  cities 
by  general  Provincial  law  in  British  Columbia,  June  21,  1902, 
and  in  Ontario  June  27,  1903. 

In  Victoria  the  referendum  by-law  was  adopted  by  the  council 
December  15,  1902.  Either  the  council  or  a  petition  of  ten  per 
cent  of  the  voters  may  send  questions  to  the 
Canada  annual  municipal  election  in  January  for  obtain- 

ing the  opinion  of  the  electors  upon  any  ques- 
tion affecting  the  public  welfare  or  any  proposed  innovation  or 
alteration  of  by-laws.  In  1903,  1907  and  1908,  the  eight  hour 
day  for  city  employees,  the  sale  of  liquors  by  retail  in  stores,  and 
an  increased  water  supply,  have  been  voted  on.  The  opinion 
thus  expressed  by  the  electors  has  been  regarded  by  the  council 
as  a  mandate  for  legislation  in  accordance  therewith. 

In  Toronto,  this  advisory  referendum  has  been  used  for  ques- 
tions like  reducing  the  number  of  liquor  licenses,  paying  salaries 
to  the  aldermen,  and  exempting  dwellings  from  assessment  to 
the  amount  of  seven  hundred  dollars. 

Augusta,  Maine,  has  held  special  elections  from  time  to  time 
to  secure  the  opinion  of  the  people  whenever  the  importance  of 
The  Ri  ht  of  issue  has  seemed  sufficient  to  warrant  such 

Instructions  election.    The  city  clerk  states  that  the 

authority  is  found  in  the  clause  of  the  city 
charter,  sec.  34,  which  provides  that  general  meetings  of  the 
citizens  may  be  held  to  consult  upon  the  public  good  and  to 
instruct  their  representatives  according  to  the  right  secured  to 
the  people  by  the  state  constitution, — to  be  summoned  by  the 
mayor  and  aldermen  upon  the  requisition  of  thirty  voters. 

The  constitution  of  Massachusetts,  the  parent  state,  contains  a 
similar  provision  inserted  in  the  original  document  of  1780,  and 
repeated  in  the  city  charters.     In  the  smaller  cities  where  the  ca- 


23©  INITIATIVE,  REFERENDUM  AND  RECALL 


pacityof  a  hall  bears  a  reasonable  relation  to  the  probable  number 
of  voters  expected  to  attend  there  have  been  numerous  meetings 
to  decide  on  various  important  matters,  but  it  is  not  known  that 
any  city  has  yet  adopted  Maine's  sensible  expedient  for  changing  a 
huge  mass  meeting  into  the  modem  method  of  booths  and  ballots. 

The  constitutions  of  thirteen  other  states  contain  in  their  bills 
of  rights  declarations  more  or  less  similar  in  support  of  the  right 
of  the  voters  to  give  instructions:  Pennsylvania,  North  Caro- 
lina, New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Tennessee,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Mich- 
igan, Arkansas,  California,  Oregon,  Kansas  and  Nevada. 

In  Delaware,  under  the  terms  of  the  law,  the  people  voted 
November  6,  1906,  on  the  question,  "Shall  the  general  assembly 
provide  a  system  of  advisory  initiative  and  refer- 
The  Advisory  endum?  Though  the  vote  in  the  entire  state 
System  was  more  than  8  to  i  in  its  favor,  the  system 

Enforceable  was  not  authorized  by  the  following  legislature 
which,  however,  with  but  a  single  dissenting 
vote  in  the  Senate,  did  establish  for  the  city  of  Wilmington, 
which  had  favored  the  proposition  by  10,548  to  747,  a  local 
initiative  without  the  referendiim.  A  petition  of  ten  per  cent 
carries  to  the  next  election  any  question  relating  to  the  affairs 
of  the  city  for  an  expression  of  opinion  thereon.  If  it  receives  a 
majority  vote  and  is  within  the  corporate  powers  of  the  city 
government,  it  must  be  put  into  effect  without  unreasonable 
delay.  Any  member  of  the  council,  or  of  a  commission,  which 
neglects  or  refuses  to  perform  the  duty  therein  imposed  com- 
mits a  misdemeanor  punishable  by  fine,  removal  from  office,  and 
ineligibility  to  hold  office  for  five  years. 

This  last  provision  should  lessen  the  danger  of  representatives 
refusing  to  carry  out  the  people's  will,  but  as  far  as  it  renders  the 
action  by  the  council  merely  an  obligatory  and  perfecting  for- 
mality it  would  seem  to  approximate  practically  to  the  system 
of  direct  legislation. 

June  I,  1907,  at  the  city  election  five  questions  were  sub- 
mitted to  the  people:  Shall  the  legislature  be 
Wilmington  memorialized  for  a  home  rule  government  for 
Wilmington  with  the  initiative  and  the  referen- 
dum (8786  to  813),  and  for  the  New  York  system  of  assessing 


ROBERT  TREAT  PAINE  231 

real  estate  (9037  to  757)?  Shall  ordinances  be  passed  to  require 
the  publication  of  a  complete  financial  statement  (8324  to 
569),  and  the  bonding  of  assessors  and  collectors  (8346  to  663), 
and  the  observance  by  the  railroad  companies  using  the  streets 
of  their  franchise  requirements  for  the  repairs  of  the  streets  and 
improvements  of  their  cars  (8302  to  504)? 

The  memorial  for  direct  legislation  will  be  presented  to  the 
legislature  when  it  convenes  in  December  but  the  vote  emphasizes 
the  desire  of  the  community  for  local  autonomy.  The  council 
has  adopted  ordinances  for  financial  statements  and  for  bonding, 
though  the  court  has  declared  the  latter  at  variance  with  the 
state  law.  The  mayor's  office  states  that  the  requirements  of 
the  last  vote  are  those  which  the  city  has  always  endeavored  to 
enforce  and  it  is  compulsory  for  the  street  railways  to  live  up 
to  the  provisions  prescribed  in  their  franchises. 

The  grants  by  municipal  councils  of  franchises  for  public 

service  utilities  have  been  the  cause  of  much  anxious  thought. 

_    .      .  How  can  they  be  wisely  safeguarded?  The 

Franchise  been  appealed  to  limit  the  maximum 

,       ,  term  and  to  create  other  restrictions.  There 

Referendum  ,  ,  ^  ^  . 

IS  a  more  or  less  general  movement  to  require 

that  such  grants  be  referred  to  a  popular  vote  for  ratification 
or  for  rejection  through  a  people's  veto. 

Iowa,  which  as  early  as  1872  had  provided  for  a  referendum 
on  franchises  for  water-works,  to  be  followed  by  a  similar  regu- 
lation in  1888  on  municipal  lighting  plants,  estabUshed  in  1899 
an  optional  referendum  and  initiative  with  reference  to  all 
similar  quasi-public  services.  Either  the  council  may  submit 
the  question  at  a  general  or  special  election  or  the  mayor  must  do 
so  on  the  petition  of  twenty-five  property  owners  from  each 
ward. 

Indiana,*  in  1899,  estabUshed  an  optional  referendum  along 
somewhat  similar  lines. 

In  Ohio  by  an  act  approved  by  Governor  Harris,  April  15, 
1908,  no  ordinances  granting  or  extending  a  franchise  to  any 
street  railway  can  become  operative  if  within  thirty  days  after 


'  Shibley:  "Municipal  Affairs,"  vol.  6,  p.  785 


232  INITIATIVE,  REFERENDUM  AND  RECALL 


its  passage  by  the  council  there  is  a  petition  of  fifteen  per  cent 
of  the  voters  until  it  has  been  submitted  to  either  a  general 
or  special  election  and  has  received  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast. 

In  Cleveland  at  a  special  election  October  22, 1908,  a  referen- 
dum invoked  against  the  "Security"  franchise  to  the  new  rail- 
way company  resulted  in  an  enormous  vote  being  cast,  defeating 
the  traction  compromise  by  38,249  to  37,644.  A  fuller  discussion 
of  the  long  struggle  in  Cleveland  will  undoubtedly  be  found 
in  the  secretary's  annual  review  of  important  events  of  the 
year. 

An  amendment  to  the  charter  of  Memphis,  Tenn.,  passed 
March  10,  1905,  chap.  54,  sec.  29,  enacts  that  no  quasi-public 
franchise  shall  be  granted  unless  approved  by  the  voters  at  a 
general  or  special  election  if  such  submission  has  been  demanded, 
within  thirty  days  of  its  passage,  by  five  hundred  freeholders. 

Nebraska  carried  the  system  to  its  fuller  recognition  of  the 
people's  right  to  originate  or  to  veto  ordinances  of  any  kind 
when  by  chap.  32  of  1897,  in  effect  on  July  10, 
Local  fifteen  per  cent  of  the  voters  in  any  mtmicipal 

Referendum  sub-division  of  Nebraska  are  authorized  to 
and  Initiative  propose  any  ordinance  which  unless  adopted 
Authorized  by  by  the  council  goes  to  the  next  municipal  elec- 
State  Law  tion.    If  amended  by  the  council  both  propo- 

sitions go  and  that  one  prevails  which  receives 
the  larger  vote  provided  that  between  them  they  receive  a 
majority  of  all  the  votes  cast.  A  petition  of  twenty  per  cent 
sends  the  question  to  a  special  election  within  thirty  to  sixty 
days  after  fiUng  of  the  petition.  The  referendimi  may  be  invoked 
against  any  ordinance  within  thirty  days  after  being  passed 
by  the  council  tmless  declared  to  be  urgent  for  the  immediate 
preservation  of  the  public  peace  or  health  or  unless  items  of 
the  modem  city  appropriations  and  passed  by  a  unanimous  yea 
and  nay  vote.  The  same  percentages,  fifteen  and  twenty,  deter- 
mine as  to  reference  to  the  next  regular  mtmicipal  election 
occurring  after  fifteen  days  after  filing  the  petition  or  to  a 
special  election  within  fifteen  to  twenty  days  after  filing.  This 
act  is  not  operative  till  accepted  by  the  voters  of  the  particular 
town  or  city. 


ROBERT  TREAT  PAINE 


233 


Lincoln  adopted  the  provisions  of  this  statute  at  the  city 
election  May  7,  1907,  by  2754  to  679,  F.  W.  Brown  being  elected 
mayor  by  2632  to  2590. 

Omaha  accepted  this  initiative  and  referendum  statute  Novem- 
ber 6,  1906,  by  6373  to  1437,  but  no  questions  tmder  it  have 
since  been  brought  to  a  popular  vote. 

South  Dakota  was  the  first  state  to  embody  in  her  constitution 
the  provisions  for  the  initiative  and  referendum,  adopting  the 
amendment  November  8,  1898,  by  23,816  to  16,483,  whereby 
not  more  than  five  per  cent  of  the  voters  is  to  be  required  for 
either  the  initiative  or  the  referendum.  This  appUes  to  cities 
as  well  as  to  the  state,  and  the  legislature  the  following  year 
made  provisions,  chap.  94,  for  carrying  into  effect  the  initiative 
and  referendum  in  municipalities,  fixing  the  per  cent  at  five 
per  cent  of  the  vote  cast  at  the  last  election 

Oregon  adopted  a  state  system  of  the  initiative  and  the  referen- 
dum June  2,  1902,  by  a  vote  of  62,204  to  5668.  The  people 
took  advantage  of  its  provision  for  the  initiative 
Oregon  and  amended  the  constitution  at  the  biennal 

election  June  4,  1906,  by  47,678  to  16,735, 
and  established  local  direct  legislation,  with  not  more  than  ten 
per  cent  required  to  order  the  referendum  or  fifteen  per 
cent  to  propose  any  measure  by  the  initiative  in  any  city  or 
town. 

Montana  followed  Oregon  in  a  constitutional  amendment  for 
direct  legislation  November  6,  1906,  with  a  vote  of  36,374  to 
6,616,  and  the  legislature  the  next  winter  by  chap.  62,  provided 
for  the  application  in  cities  and  towns  of  the  referendum  on  the 
petition  of  five  per  cent  and  of  the  initiative  on  eight  per  cent, 
with  fifteen  per  cent  required  in  either  case  to  demand  a  special 
election. 

Oklahoma  in  her  new  constitution  adopted  September  17, 
1907,  which  President  Roosevelt  in  his  proclamation  on  Novem- 
ber 16,  1907,  declared  to  be  "RepubUcan  in  form,"  provides  for 
a  local  referendum  and  initiative  as  well  as  a  state  system,  and 
fixes  the  percentage  for  cities  at  twenty-five. 

In  the  constitutional  amendment  establishing  a  state  system 
of  direct  legislation  which  Maine  adopted  September  14,  1908, 


234  INITIATIVE,  REFERENDUM  AND  RECALL 


51,991  to  23,743,  sec.  21  provides  that  any  city  may  establish 
the  initiative  and  referendiim  through  an  ordinance  ratified  by 
a  popular  vote. 

In  IlUnois  under  the  public  opinion  law  a  vote  was  taken  at  the 
state  election  in  November,  1902,  upon  the  popular  petition  for 
a  local  referendum  law  and  resulted  in  a  favorable  vote  of  390,- 
972  to  83,377.  This  expression  of  opinion  was  ignored  by  the 
legislature.  A  second  vote  was  taken  November  8,  1904,  on  a 
similar  question  of  estabhshing  a  local  five  per  cent  people's 
veto  and  resulted  in  an  even  more  overwhelming  vote  in  its 
endorsement — 535,501  to  95,420.  The  people's  representatives, 
however,  have  paid  no  attention  to  these  and  other  similar 
expressions  of  the  people's  wishes. 

The  greatest  local  development  of  direct  legislation  has  been 
witnessed  in  the  Pacific  states. 

San  Francisco,  vmder  the  home  rule  provisions  of  the  CaUfornia 
constitution,  elected  a  Board  of  Freeholders  December  27, 
1897,  to  propose  a  new  charter  which  was 
Initiative  and  ratified  at  a  special  election  May  26,  1898,  by 
Referendum  14,386  to  12,025,  and  having  been  approved  by 
through  the  legislature  in  1899,  chap.  2  went  into  effect 

Charters  January  8,  1900.    It  provided  for  an  initiative 

on  the  petition  of  fifteen  per  cent  of  the 
voters  to  apply  either  to  ordinances  or  to  charter  amend- 
ments; and  franchises  for  water- works  or  Hghting  plants,  or 
ordinances  for  the  purchase  of  land,  must  be  referred  to  the 
next  election. 

The  same  system  was  copied  by  Vallejo  through  a  special 
election  December  8,  1898  (see  chap.  5,  1899)  and  by  Fresno, 
October  19,  1899  (see  chap.  9,  1901). 

The  initiative  and  referendum  system  which  is  generally 
thought  of  when  reference  is  made  to  it  is  that  of  Los  Angeles 
adopted  at  a  special  election  December  i,  1902, 
Los  Angeles  by  a  vote  of  12,105  to  1955.  The  legislature 
Model  ratified  it  in  1903,  chap.  6.    The  system  is  elab- 

orated in  much  more  detail  and  has  generally 
served  as  the  basis  or  model  for  other  cities  which  have  since 
adopted  direct  legislation. 


ROBERT  TREAT  PAINE 


235 


Under  the  initiative  any  proposed  ordinance  may  be  presented 
to  the  council.  If  five  per  cent  petition  it  goes  without  alteration 
to  the  next  municipal  election.  If  fifteen  per  cent  petition  and 
request  a  special  election  it  must  be  passed  without  alteration  by 
the  council  within  twenty  days  and  if  vetoed  by  the  mayor  re- 
passed by  the  council,  or  the  council  must  call  a  special  election  at 
which  it  shall  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people.  If  the 
council  passes  it,  the  referendum  may  still  be  invoked  against 
it. 

The  basis  for  the  percentage  is  the  entire  vote  cast  for  mayor 
at  the  last  preceding  general  election.  The  city  clerk  has  ten 
days  in  which  to  examine  and  ascertain  whether  the  petition 
has  been  signed  by  the  requisite  number  of  qualified  electors. 
If  fotmd  insufficient  the  petition  may  be  amended  within  ten 
days  after  which  the  clerk  has  a  further  period  of  ten  days  to 
renew  his  verification  as  to  its  sufficiency  and  then  present  it  to 
the  council,  or  if  again  deficient  to  return  it  without  prejudice 
to  the  person  fihng  it. 

Any  number  of  proposed  ordinances  may  be  voted  upon  at 
the  same  election,  but  not  more  than  one  special  election  shall 
be  held  in  any  period  of  six  months. 

Any  ordinance  proposed  by  petition  or  adopted  by  popular 
vote  can  be  amended  or  repealed  only  by  vote  of  the  people, 
though  the  council  may  submit  at  any  succeeding  city  election 
propositions  for  repeal  or  amendment. 

The  referendum  appUes  practically  to  all  ordinances  except 
those  declared  to  be  urgent  for  the  immediate  preservation  of 
the  pubUc  peace,  health  or  safety,  and  passed  by  a  two-thirds 
vote  of  the  council.  No  franchise  grants  can  be  construed  as 
urgency  measures.  If  a  seven  per  cent  petition  is  presented  to 
the  council  within  thirty  days  from  its  final  passage  and  approved 
by  the  mayor,  the  ordinance  shall  be  suspended  from  going  into 
operation  and  the  covmcil  shall  reconsider  and  entirely  repeal 
the  ordinance  or  it  shall  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  electors 
at  the  next  general  election,  or  at  a  special  election  called  for 
the  purpose,  and  shall  not  go  into  effect  unless  approved  by  a 
majority  of  voters  voting  on  the  same. 

Ten  days  prior  to  the  election  at  which  any  ordinance  is  sub- 


236  INITIATIVE,  REFERENDUM  AND  RECALL 


mitted  to  the  voters  the  city  clerk  mails  to  each  voter  a  printed 
copy  of  the  ordinance  with  a  sample  ballot  unless  the  council 
has  ordered,  in  place  of  this,  the  pubUcation  in  the  offici  al  news- 
paper of  the  city  in  the  same  manner  as  ordinances  adopted  by 
the  council  are  required  to  be  published. 

The  movement  thus  started  made  rapid  progress.  Sacramento, 
San  Bernardino,  San  Diego  and  Pasadena  held  special  elections 
November  3,  1903,  January  6,  1905,  January 
Progress  in        27,  1905,  and  February  28,  1905,  and  adopted 
California  amendments  to  their  charters,  excepting  in  the 

Cities  case  of  San  Bernardino  which  proposed  an  en- 

tirely new  charter,  and  the  legislature  gave  its 
approval  in  1905,  in  chaps.  12,  15,  11  and  20  of  the  current  reso- 
lutions. 

Eureka,  Santa  Monica,  Alameda,  Santa  Cruz,  Long  Beach, 
and  Riverside,  held  elections  June  19,  1905,  March  28,  1906, 
July  18,  1906,  January  22,  1907,  February  5,  1907,  and  March 
I,  1907,  to  adopt  new  charters;  which  were  approved  by  the 
legislature  in  its  session  of  1907,  in  chaps.  14,  6,  7,  9,  15  and 
25- 

In  general  these  later  charters  followed  pretty  closely  the 
model  of  Los  Angeles.  San  Diego  adopted  the  same  percentages ; 
five  and  fifteen  per  cent  for  the  initiative  for  general  and  special 
elections  respectively,  and  seven  per  cent  for  the  referendum. 
Sacramento  and  Riverside  require  ten  per  cent  for  either  the 
initiative  at  a  general  election  or  for  the  referendum. 

Eureka,  Alameda  and  Santa  Cruz  raise  the  percentage  for  a 
special  election  for  the  initiative  to  twenty  and  vary  the  referen- 
dum sUghtly  by  having  fifteen  per  cent  to  keep  an  ordinance 
from  going  into  effect  before  the  election,  while  ten  per  cent 
allows  it  to  become  operative  subject  to  its  repeal  ten  days 
after  an  adverse  popular  vote. 

\^  Long  Beach,  Santa  Monica,  Pasadena,  and  San  Bernardino, 
raise  the  percentage  still  higher  to  thirty  for  the  initiative  at  a 
special  election,  and  in  general  have  high  percentages  for  the 
other  requirements,  ranging  from  ten  to  thirty. 

The  following  table  may  illustrate  more  graphically  the  various 
percentages  required  in  the  different  cities: 


ROBERT  TREAT  PAINE 


237 


INITIATIVE  TO 
GENERAL  OR  SPECIAL  ELECTIONS  REFERENDUM 


San  Francisco   15 

Vallejo   15 

Fresno   15 

Los  Angeles   5  15  7 

San  Diego   5  ^5  7 

Sacramento   10  15  10 

Riverside   10  15  10 

Eureka   10  20  10—  15 

Alameda   10  20  10—  15 

Santa  Cruz   10  20  10—  15 

Long  Beach   10  30  25 

Santa  Monica   25  30  25—  30 

Pasadena   30  10 

San  Bernardino   30  30 


In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  initiative  and  referendum  have 
been  put  to  comparatively  rare  use  it  would  seem  distinctly- 
unwise  to  raise  the  percentages  so  high  as  to  make  the  system 
almost  unworkable  when  for  good  reason  there  should  be  resort 
to  it.  The  10-20-10  formula  may  be  a  conservative  and  mode- 
rate one  though  friends  of  the  system  in  Los  Angeles  advise 
against  increasing  the  percentages  which  prevail  there  of 
S-I5-7- 

There  are  several  variations  on  the  general  model.  Pasadena 
allows  the  council  to  submit  to  the  voters  an  alternative  to  the 
measure  suggested  by  the  initiative. 

Eureka,  Alameda  and  Santa  Cruz  make  twenty- five  per  cent 
obligatory  for  an  initiative  petition  against  measures  adopted 
by  the  electorate. 

Santa  Monica  does  not  allow  a  measure  enacted  by  the  people 
to  be  amended  by  the  council  before  two  years  and  forbids  a 
measure  to  be  submitted  a  second  time  except  by  the  council  or 
on  a  thirty  per  cent  petition. 

Santa  Cruz  allows  a  referendum  on  the  same  measure  twice 
within  a  year  only  on  a  forty  per  cent  petition. 

Alameda  permits  a  special  election  if  the  expenses  are  paid 
in  advance  by  the  applicant  for  a  franchise  or  by  other  persons. 

Alameda,  Santa  Monica,  Riverside  and  Sacramento  provide 
that  if  the  provisions  of  two  or  more  measures  which  are  adopted 


238  INITIATIVE,  REFERENDUM  AND  RECALL 


at  the  same  election  conflict,  then  the  measure  receiving  the 
highest  affirmative  vote  shall  control. 

The  experience  of  Los  Angeles  throws  light  upon  the  value 
of  direct  legislation.  There  has  been  only  one  special  election 
called  under  a  fifteen  per  cent  initiative  petition  obtained  by 
the  prohibitionists  who  tried  to  close  all  saloons;  but  in  this 
they  were  defeated. 

At  the  general  election  December  6,  1904,  four  ordinances 
were  presented  under  the  initiative  to  fix  the  limits  of  slaughter- 
house districts.  Though  confusing  and  confiict- 
The  ing  a  local  authority  states  that  with  keen 

Experience  of  intelligence  and  good  judgment  the  people 
Los  Angeles       carried  the  best  one  by  a  handsome  majority. 

About  a  year  ago  an  additional  franchise  of 
great  financial  and  strategic  value,  estimated  to  be  worth  a 
million  dollars,  was  given  by  the  council  to  the  street  railway 
corporation.  Though  rushed  through  to  catch  the  people 
napping,  under  the  threatened  use  of  the  referendum  and  the 
recall  the  ordinance  was  revoked  by  the  council.  This  spring 
the  council  granted  for  five  hundred  dollars  another  very  valuable 
franchise  to  this  same  street  railway  company,  and  passed  it 
over  the  veto  of  the  mayor.  A  referendum  petition  was  pre- 
sented May  18,  and  the  council  having  refused  to  repeal  the 
ordinance  it  is  held  up  and  will  be  referred  to  the  next  municipal 
election.  The  same  city  council  having  refused  to  pass  an  ordi- 
nance compelUng  the  street  railways  to  properly  equip  their 
cars  with  efficient  fenders  and  run  at  a  moderate  rate  of  speed 
within  the  heart  of  the  city,  although  the  accidents  and  mortality 
were  said  to  be  greater  proportionately  than  in  any  other  city, 
the  Voters  League  secured  over  four  thousand  signatures  to  a 
petition  calling  for  a  special  election,  but  before  presenting  it 
persuaded  the  council  to  adopt  a  satisfactory  ordinance  which 
has  since  been  the  cause  of  saving  many  lives.  Los  Angeles 
claims  a  population  of  over  three  hundred  thousand  which 
would  perhaps  rank  it  as  the  seventeenth  largest  city  in  the 
United  States,  approximating  the  size  of  Washington. 

As  the  city  in  which  the  modem  system  of  direct  legislation 
was  established  first  and  has  therefore  been  given  the  longest 


ROBERT  TREAT  PAINE 


239 


trial  it  is  interesting  and  instructive  to  see  what  testimony  is 
offered  as  to  its  value.  The  first  act  of  a  committee  lately  sitting 
on  charter  revision  was  to  resolve  that  the  direct  legislation 
provisions  be  retained  intact  without  any  increase  of  percentages. 

Municipal  Affairs,  the  organ  of  the  Municipal  League  of  Los 
Angeles,  says  that 

nothing  better  has  happened  to  Los  Angeles  than  making  the 
initiative,  referendum  and  recall  a'part  of  its  organic  law.  Large 
as  was  the  vote  in  their  favor,  it  would  be  many  times  larger 
should  any  attempt  be  made  to  eliminate  them, 

and  points  out 

that  to  a  very  large  extent  the  value  of  the  initiative,  referendum 
and  recall  lies  not  in  the  fact  that  they  are  used,  but  that  they 
may  be  used.  They  are  the  most  powerful  deterrent  we  have 
against  bad  officials  and  corrupt  and  incompetent  law  making. 

Two  years  ago  a  circular  letter  addressed  to  the  Christian 
people  of  California  says  that  "Civic  reform  and  a  revival  of 
practical  righteousness  cannot  be  secured  by  individual  or 
religious  efforts  alone,  without  regard  to  environment  and 
practical  means  of  working.  Our  duty  and  responsibility  as 
voters  also  require  us  to  secure  a  simple  method  by  which  Christian 
influence  can  be  made  most  effective  in  promoting  the  pubic 
welfare.  The  best  method  yet  proposed  for  non-partisan  polit- 
ical action  is  direct  legislation — the  initiative  and  referendum." 
This  circular  was  signed  by  ten  leading  ministers  of  the  Methodist, 
Baptist,  Presbyterian,  Congregational  and  other  denominations, 
by  Bishop  T.  J.  Conaty  of  Montery  and  Los  Angeles,  and  by  the 
President  of  Pomona  College. 

The  Republican  mayor  of  Riverside  which  adopted  direct 
legislation  last  year,  but  as  yet  has  not  brought  any  questions 


In  my  judgment  if  the  lawmakers  could  be  elected  or  appointed 
free  from  any  obligation  to  either  corporations,  individuals,  or 
parties  and  could  then  make  the  laws  plain  and  do  away  with 
technicalities  and  give  a  quick  service  of  the  law  to  all  alike 
there  would  be  very  little  agitation  for  what  the  strictly  polit- 
ical persons  call  these  insane  and  anarchistic  provisions. 


Riverside's 
Experiences 


under  it  to  a  popular  vote,  writes  that  as  an 
abstract  proposition  he  thinks  there  is  no  room 
for  adverse  argument,  but  adds, 


240  INITIATIVE,  REFERENDUM  AND  RECALL 


As  no  American  city  has  yet  been  able  to  accomplish  the 
aforesaid  "if"  it  is  probable  that  these  "insane  and  anarchistic 
provisions" — the  best  method  yet  proposed  for  non-partisan 
political  action,  will  continue  to  be  resorted  to  by  those  who 
desire  to  make  Christian  influences  effective  in  promoting  the 
public  welfare. 

In  Alameda  the  council  voted  to  spend  the  one  hundred  and 
fifteen  thousand  dollars,  authorized  by  popular  vote  for  play- 
grounds, upon  one  tract  only,  at  a  very  high  price.  The  mayor, 
favoring  three  playgrounds  in  different  parts  of  the  city,  vetoed 
the  ordinance,  and  in  the  ensuing  deadlock  secured  an  initiative 
petition  of  twenty  per  cent  of  the  voters  by  which  this  question 
was  referred  to  popular  decision  at  a  special  election  May  2, 
1908,  when  the  mayor's  position  was  sustained  by  a  vote  of  1078 
to  626,  which  carried  every  precinct. 

Inasmuch  as  the  Recall  has  been  adopted  very  generally  as  a  part 
of  the  new  system  of  direct  legislation  and  is  often  referred  to, 
as  above,  as  one  of  the  bulwarks  of  the  people 
The  Recall  against  misrepresentative  government,  it  may  be 
well  to  consider  briefly  its  present  status  in  the 
above  cities.  Papers  in  the  1905  and  1906  volumes  of  the 
League  have  described  the  principles  of  the  recall  as  first  divised 
for  Los  Angeles  and  later  adopted  in  Pasadena,  Fresno,  San 
Bernardino,  and  San  Diego,  and  also  the  first  use  of  it  in  Los 
Angeles  in  the  removal  of  a  councilman. 

Since  then  Santa  Monica,  Alameda,  Santa  Cruz,  Long  Beach 
and  Riverside,  as  well  as  San  Francisco  and  Vallejo,  whose 
charters  were  adopted  prior  to  this  new  movement  by  Los 
Angeles,  have  all  inserted  in  their  charters  provisions  for  the 
recall.  In  four  instances  the  required  percentage  has  been 
raised  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  or  forty.  The  popular  votes 
on  its  adoption  have  been  strongly  in  its  favor;  the  latest  one 
being  22,945  to  5597,  in  San  Francisco  in  November  1907, 
where  it  was  proposed  by  an  initiative  petition. 

The  recall  was  invoked  June  30,  1907,  in  two  wards  of  San 
Bernardino  against  two  councilmen.  A  petition  for  the  recall 
was  held  by  the  court  as  valid  in  San  Diego,  but  the  term  of  the 
councilmen  expired  before  the  legal  proceedings  had  been  brought 
to  a  close. 


4 


ROBERT  TREAT  PAINE 


241 


Oregon  adopted  June  i,  1908,  by  58,381  to  31,002,  under  an 
initiative  petition,  an  amendment  to  her  constitution  whereby 
she  becomes  the  first  state  to  render  every  public  officer  subject 
to  the  recall  by  the  voters  of  the  state  or  of  the  electoral  district 
from  which  he  is  chosen,  not  more  than  twenty-five  per  cent  of 
those  voting  for  the  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  at  the  preced- 
ing election  to  be  necessary  for  filing  the  petition.  The  recall 
thus  becomes  available  for  all  cities  in  the  state. 

Portland,  Oregon,  by  its  charter  adopted  June,  1902,  provides 
for  a  fifteen  per  cent  initiative  to  the  general  election  and 
a  fifteen  per  cent  referendum  against  all  ordi- 
Other  Pacific  nances  for  franchises  or  for  the  municipal  owner- 
Coast  Cities  ship  of  public  utilities.  At  the  election  June 
3,  1907,  twenty-one  questions  were  submitted 
to  the  voters,  but  of  this  seemingly  excessive  number  sixteen 
were  referred  by  a  vote  of  the  city  council  and  only  five  were 
due  to  initiative  petitions.  A  fuller  discussion  may  be  found 
in  our  secretary's  annual  report  of  last  year. 

In  Washington  under  a  law  passed  March  21,  1903,  a  petition 
of  fifteen  per  cent  of  the  voters  asking  the  adoption  of  a  specified 
charter  amendment,  within  the  realm  of  local  affairs,  causes  it 
to  be  submitted  at  the  next  municipal  election. 

A  charter  amendment  was  thus  initiated  in  Seattle  and 
adopted  March  3,  1908,  by  11,493  to  6063,  providing  for  the 
referendum  on  ten  per  cent  and  for  the  initiative  on  twenty-five 
per  cent  to  go  to  the  next  regular  election.  Three  petitions 
have  since  been  presented  but  were  found  insufficient.  The  recall 
was  adopted  at  the  city  election  March  5,  1906,  by  9312  to  1265. 

Everett  adopted  a  city  charter  November  26,  1907,  contain- 
ing the  initiative,  referendum  and  recall  by  a  vote  of  2287  to 
389.    The  percentages  are  20,  10  and  25  respectively. 

Spokane  has  a  provision  for  a  fifteen  per  cent  referendum. 

Denver,  under  the  home  rule  provisions  of  the  Colorado  con- 
stitution, elected  its  Board  of  Freeholders  and  ratified  the  pro- 
posed charter  March  29,  1904.  A  twenty-five  per  cent  petition 
is  required  for  either  the  initiative  or  the  referendum  and  all 
franchises  must  be  submitted  to  the  vote  of  the  qualified  tax- 
paying  voters  and  the  expense  of  such  submission  paid  in  advance 


242  INITIATIVE,  REFERENDUM  AND  RECALL 


by  the  applicant.  At  the  general  election  May  15,  1906,  under 
a  petition  with  twenty  thousand  signatures  an  initiative  ordi- 
nance was  voted  on  which  had  been  drafted  by  the  Municipal 
Ownership  League  fixing  maximum  charges  for  gas,  electricity 
and  water,  and  providing  for  children's  half-fare  tickets  on  the 
street  railways. 

The  initiative  and  referendum  have  been  given  a  great  impetus 
through  another  movement  which  has  aimed 
Commission  by  establishing  a  commission  form  of  govem- 
Govemment  ment  to  lessen  inefficiency,  waste  and  corrup- 
Charters  tion  through  concentrating  power  and  responsi- 

bility upon  a  small  body  of  men. 

The  commission  system  was  first  authorized  for  Galveston 
in  a  charter  granted  by  the  Texas  legislatvu-e  in  190 1.  A  full 
account  of  this  plan  in  its  operation  there  may  be  found  in  the 
1906  and  1907  volumes  of  the  League.  The  referendum  is 
obligatory  on  proposed  issues  of  bonds  which  must  be  approved 
by  a  majority  of  qualified  taxpaying  voters. 

The  example  of  Galveston  was  followed  by  other  cities  in 
Texas.  Houston  in  1905,  and  El  Paso,  Fort  Worth  and  Dallas 
in  1907,  obtained  charters  for  a  commission  government,  and 
Waco  voted  for  it  this  spring. 

San  Antonio  in  a  new  charter  of  1903  provided  for  a  ten  per 
cent  referendum  to  apply  only  to  franchises  and  suspending 
the  operation  of  the  ordinance  until  it  has  been  ratified  by  a 
majority  of  all  voters.  Houston  introduces  a  variation  in  that 
the  referendum,  on  all  franchises,  is  available  on  the  petition  of 
the  definite  number  of  five  hundred  voters,  while  El  Paso  intro- 
duces a  further  variation  in  making  the  referendum  depend  on 
four  hundred  voters  who  are  taxpayers;  or  on  the  voUtion  of 
the  council  itself.  Fort  Worth  provides  a  twenty  per  cent 
referendum  and  also  a  twenty  per  cent  recall.  Greenville  and 
Denison  in  their  1907  charters  for  a  council  of  a  mayor  and  two 
aldermen  provide,  the  one  for  a  referendum  on  franchises  on 
the  petition  of  one  hundred  voters,  and  the  other  for  a  twenty 
per  cent  recall.  Dallas  follows  the  California  model  more  closely 
in  allowing  an  initiative  to  the  general  election  on  five  per  cent 
with  fifteen  per  cent  for  a  special  election,  and  a  referendum 


ROBERT  TREAT  PAINE 


243 


on  franchises  on  a  petition  either  of  fifteen  per  cent  or  of  five 
hundred  voters,  and  doubles  the  time  within  which  to  petition 
by  making  this  period  sixty  days;  and  also  has  a  thirty-five 
per  cent  recall. 

The  final  form  by  which  the  commission  plan  of  government 
is  at  the  present  time  being  generally  combined  with  direct 
legislation,  and  often  with  the  recall  of  the  Los 
The  Des  Angeles  type,  has  been  made  prominent  by  Des 

Moines  Moines.    By  a  law  passed  March  29,  1907,  Iowa 

Model  permits  all  cities  in  the  state  with  a  popula- 

tion exceeding  twenty-five  thousand  to  adopt  by 
popular  vote,  on  a  petition  of  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  number 
voting  at  the  preceding  city  election,  a  charter  which  is  set  forth 
in  the  act. 

Des  Moines  adopted  this  charter  June  20,  1907,  by  6044  to 
4143,  and  itwent  into  effect  the  following  March.  The  initiative 
requires  a  ten  per  cent  petition  for  the  general  election  and 
twenty-five  per  cent  for  a  special  election.  The  referendum  may 
be  demanded  by  a  twenty-five  per  cent  petition  presented  within 
ten  days  after  the  passage  of  the  ordinance  objected  to.  Twenty- 
five  per  cent  is  likewise  required  to  bring  the  recall  into  operation. 
At  the  election  November  3,  1908,  there  were  three  referendums 
voted  on  and  carried  by  decisive  majorities.  An  interesting 
incident  was  the  voting  of  the  women  on  these  questions  in 
accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  charter. 

Cedar  Rapids  is  the  second  city  in  the  state  to  adopt  a  similar 
charter  which  went  into  effect  April  8,  1908,  and  according  to 
the  mayor  has  been  universally  satisfactory,. 

Sioux  City  voted  against  the  acceptance  of  a  commission 
charter  567  to  533. 

South  Dakota  passed  an  act,  chap.  86,  in  1907,  that  is  very 
similar  to  the  one  in  Iowa,  but  the  percentages  are  considerably 
lower.  Cities  are  allowed  to  adopt  the  "commission  form" 
charter  at  special  elections  held  uder  an  initiative  petition  of 
fifteen  per  cent.  Both  the  initiative  and  the  referendum  are 
brought  into  use  on  a  five  per  cent  petition,  and  a  period  of 
twenty  days  is  allowed;  while  the  recall  requires  fifteen  per  cent. 

Sioux  Falls  voted  September  29,  1908,  by  857  to  353,  to 
incorporate  under  this  charter. 


244  INITIATIVE,  REFERENDUM  AND  RECALL 


Lewiston  was  given  a  new  charter  by  the  Idaho  legislature, 
March  13,  1907,  providing  for  a  mayor  and  six  councilors  elected 
at  large.  The  initiative  petitions  of  five  and  fifteen  per  cent  call 
for  action  at  general  and  special  elections  respectively.  The 
referendum  may  be  invoked  within  thirty  days  against  franchises 
and  real  estate  ordinances  on  petition  of  three  hundred  voters. 
The  recall  requires  twenty-five  per  cent.  Under  the  initiative 
a  special  election  was  held  November  5,  1908,  on  the  petition 
for  an  ordinance  designed  to  secure  prohibition  throughout  the 
city.    The  ordinance  was  defeated. 

Kansas  passed  an  act  March  2,  1907,  setting  forth  a  commis- 
sion form  of  government  and  permitting  all  cities  of  the  first 
class  to  adopt  it  by  a  majority  vote  at  a  special  election.  A 
ten  per  cent  referendum  is  authorized  on  all  franchise  ordi- 
nances within  sixty  days  after  their  passage  and  the  entire 
expense  of  the  city  election  must  be  paid  in  advance  by  the 
franchise  applicant. 

Leavenworth  adopted  the  act  February  11,  1908,  by  1932  to 
1585,  but  Wichita  rejected  it,  December  3, 1907,  by  3266  toi2i8. 

In  conservative  Massachusetts  two  cities  have  blazed  the  way 
to  direct  legislation  in  the  charters  which  they  have  just  adopted. 

Haverhill  was  the  first  to  accept  the  new  law,  chap.  574,  by 
a  vote  of  3066  to  2242,  at  a  special  election  October  6,  1908, 
following  the  model  of  Des  Moines  exactly  in  the  various  per- 
centages required  for  the  initiative,  the  referendum  and  the  recall. 

Gloucester  accepted  chap.  611,  on  November  3,  1908,  by  1762 
to  1400.  Twenty- five  per  cent  is  reqviired  for  either  the  referen- 
dum or  the  initiative,  and  the  recall  is  not  authorized. 

Kansas  City  elected  a  Board  of  Freeholders  under  the  home 
rule  provisions  of  the  Missouri  constitution  and  adopted  the 
charter  prepared  by  them  at  a  special  election  August  4,  1908, 
by  a  vote  of  14,069  to  5219.  The  recall  which  was  submitted 
as  a  separate  proposition  was  lost,  not  receiving  the  necessary 
four-sevenths  of  the  total  vote,  the  figures  being  4099  to  2724. 
All  franchises  are  subject  to  a  twenty  per  cent  referendum 
within  sixty  days  and  if  a  special  election  is  called,  the  expenses 
must  be  borne  by  the  person  or  corporation  in  whose  favor  the 
ordinance  is  enacted.    A  ten  per  cent  initiative  petition  can 


ROBERT  TREAT  PAINE 


245 


cause  amendments  to  the  charter  to  be  submitted  to  a  general 
or  special  election  at  which  they  must  be  accepted  by  a  three- 
fifths  majority  of  those  voting. 

North  Dakota  and  Mississippi  are  other  states  that  in  1907 
(see  chaps.  45  and  108),  provided  for  a  popular  initiative  of 
ten  per  cent  to  call  for  special  elections  to  act  on  the  question 
of  adopting  commission  government  charters  in  cities. 

Wisconsin,  in  chap.  670,  1907,  authorizes  the  same  popular 
initiative  of  ten  per  cent  to  bring  before  the  voters  of  any  city 
the  question  of  accepting  that  act  which  forbids  party  designa- 
tions on  nomination  papers  or  official  ballots. 

At  the  other  extreme  from  the  commission  form  of  government 
is  the  plan  adopted  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  June  6,  1907,  by 
a  vote  of  1804  to  1 161,  where  the  representative 
Newport's  coimcil  consists  of  the  unusual  number  of  one 

Representative  hundred  and  ninety-five  members  elected  from 
Council  the  five  wards,  with  a  mayor  and  five  alderman. 

One  hundred  electors  may  initiate  a  petition 
for  any  ordinance  or  expenditure  of  money  exceeding  ten  thou- 
sand dollars  and  if  the  council  refuses  to  pass  it,  a  second  petition 
of  three  hundred  electors,  or  roughly  six  per  cent,  causes  the 
proposition  to  be  referred  to  special  ward  meetings  of  the  quali- 
fied electors.  All  votes  of  the  cotmcil  requiring  the  expenditure 
of  a  similar  sum,  in  addition  to  the  regular  appropriations,  are 
subject  within  seven  days  to  a  referendum  petition  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  electors  and  must  then  be  referred  within 
thirty  days  to  special  ward  meetings. 

Other  cities  are  now  considering  the  adoption  of  direct  legisla- 
tion under  new  charters;  among  them  being  Milwaukee,  Wis., 
Berkeley,  Cal.,  and  St.  Joseph,  Mo.  No  instance  is  recorded  of 
any  city  rejecting  direct  legislation  after  having  once  adopted 
it  and  tried  it. 

Special  elections  should  not  be  held  except  when  the  questions 
to  be  presented  are  of  extreme  importance  and 
Special  such  as  to  arouse  the  community  to  exhibit 

Elections  its  interest  by  a  large  vote.    Under  such  con- 

ditions special  elections  are  justifiable  because 
they  further  tend  to  keep  the  questions  out  of  politics  and  allow 


346  INITIATIVE,  REFERENDUM  AND  RECALL 


them  to  be  settled  on  their  merits.  Therefore  the  percentages 
requisite  for  summoning  special  elections  should  be  comparatively 
high,  while  in  other  cases  they  should  be  reasonably  moderate, 
and  the  time  within  which  a  referendum  petition  may  be  pre- 
sented of  sufficient  length  so  as  not  to  make  the  burden  unreason- 
ably arduous  or  impracticable.  Experience  shows  that  neither 
the  initiative  nor  the  referendum  is  abused  by  an  excessive 
number  of  petitions. 

Nearly  every  form  or  combination  of  forms  in  municipal 
government  has  been  tried  and  hitherto  has  been  more  or  less 
of  a  failure.  Two  fundamental  difficulties  have  been  experienced. 
The  masses  of  the  voters  have  been  unfortunately  divided  by 
allegiance  to  and  consideration  of  national  or  state  partisan 
organizations.  The  influential  and  property  classes  have  too 
often  had  financial  interests  at  stake  in  the  quasi-pubUc  service 
corporations  which  have  prevented  them  from  considering 
municipal  questions  with  an  eye  solely  to  the  general  welfare  of 
a  community. 

Direct  legislation  is  of  immense  gain  in  concentrating  the 
attention  of  the  voters  upon  measures  and  not  men.  Partisan 
considerations  can  no  longer  dominate.  Instances  are  numerous 
where  party  candidates  have  won,  but  the  measures  they  advo- 
cated or  had  passed  have  been  defeated. 

Not  only  is  the  interference  of  national  partisanship  in  munici- 
pal affairs  very  largely  reduced  and  neutraUzed  by  the  initiative 
and  the  referendum,  but  there  is  a  simtdtaneous  movement  for 
its  elimination  by  legislative  enactment.  The  charters  of  the 
Des  Moines  character  expressly  forbid  partisan  designations 
upon  the  ballots. 


The  Washington  Situation.' 


JAMES  BRONSON  REYNOLDS,  New  York  City, 
Special  Sociological  Adviser  to  the  resident. 

The  changes  in  the  government  of  the  national  capital  herein 
proposed,  were  the  conclusions  reached  after  an  investigation, 
which  I  undertook  at  the  request  of  the  President.  The  investi- 
gation related  particularly  to  social  conditions,  but  authority 
was  also  given  to  recommend  changes  affecting  the  machinery 
of  the  government. 

In  considering  the  absolutely  unique  government  of  the  city 
of  Washington,  alias  the  District  of  Columbia,  I  wish  to  make 
four  observations  regarding  its  general  character 

1.  Washington  is  at  the  present  time  only  a  geographical 

expression.  It  is,  as  usually  understood, 
Washington,  synonymous  with  the  District  of  Columbia 
an  Expression        which  is  at  once  a  city,  a  county,  a  territory 

and  a  state.  The  functions  of  its  govern- 
ment include  many  of  the  essentials  of  all  these  divisions  of  our 
political  system.  The  functions  of  state  and  city  predominate, 
but  its  chief  officials  are  appointed  as  in  case  of  a  territory. 
The  chief  and  most  densely  populated  section  of  this  complex 
political  imit  is  known  as  the  City  of  Washington,  but  it  includes 
a  further  geographical  expression,  called  Georgetown,  and  an 
extended  outlying  district.  Hence  the  problem  and  concerns 
of  the  local  government  are  primarily  those  of  a  city  with  such 
supplemental  machinery  as  is  required  for  county,  territorial  and 
state  government. 

2.  The  citizens  of  Washington  have  no  direct  share  in  its 
government.    There  is  not  even  an  elected,  territorial  legisla- 

'  Proposed  changes  in  the  government  of  the  national  capital. 

(247) 


248 


THE  WASHINGTON  SITUATION 


ture.  The  only  instruments  for  the  expression  of  public  senti- 
ment are  the  press,  local  civic  organizations  and  the  appeal  of 
individual  citizens  to  the  President  or  to  the  Congress.  It  was 
not  within  the  scope  of  my  authority  to  investigate  the  desire  of 
the  citizens  of  the  District  for  self-government,  but  I  beUeve 
such  desire  exists,  though  it  has  not  been  organized,  persistent, 
or  aggressive.  Furthermore,  serious  complications  would  arise 
in  determining  the  basis  of  the  franchise,  and  both  the  national 
parties  are  evidently  not  disposed  to  put  themselves  on  record 
in  connection  therewith. 

3.  The  ultimate  governing  powers  of  the  District  government 
are  the  President  and  the  Congress.  The  President  appoints 
the  district  commissioners  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Senate. 
The  further  interest  of  the  President  can  be  only  occasional, 

though  I  have  been  in  a  position  to  know  that 
The  President's  President  Roosevelt  has  given  much  thought 
Interest  to  District  matters,  and  has  stimtdated  enter- 

prise and  progress  and  the  introduction  and 
passage  of  laws  bettering  social  conditions.  His  recent  appoint- 
ment of  a  Homes  Commission  is  but  one  illustration  of  his 
active  interest. 

The  power  of  the  Congress  is  legislative  and  is  exercised  through 
the  committees  on  the  affairs  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  of  the 
Senate  and  the  House.  Legislation  recommended  by  these  com- 
mittees is  usually  accepted  by  the  Congress  without  much  debate. 
The  Congress  has  granted  to  the  District  Commissioners  the  pow- 
ers to  pass  municipal  ordinances  and  administrative  regulations. 

4.  The  executive  powers  of  the  Washington  government  are 
vested  in  the  three  Commissioners  appointed  by  the  President. 
These  commissioners  act  collectively  in  matters  of  major  impor- 
tance, exercise  the  legislative  powers  above  named  and  super- 
vise and  direct  the  various  departments  and  bureaus  of  the  Dis- 
trict Government.  The  department  of  education  was  formerly 
under  their  jurisdiction,  but  a  recent  act  of  Congress  has  made 
it  subject  to  a  board  of  education  independent  of  the  district 
commissioners. 

The  principal  changes  proposed  in  the  government  of  Wash- 
ington, that  is,  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  are  these: 


JAMES  BRONSON  REYNOLDS 


249 


I .  The  substitution  of  a  governor  for  three  commissioners  of 
equal  authority. 

2.  The  extension  of  eligibility  for  the  chief 
Changes  executive  office,  so  that  the  President  may  have 

Proposed  power  to  appoint  as  governor  either  a  resident 

of  the  District  or  a  non-resident  who  has  served 
at  least  one  term  as  mayor  of  a  city  of  not  less  than  50,000 
inhabitants. 

3.  The  creation  of  distinct  departments  with  proper  salaried 
officers  at  their  head  in  the  place  of  Bureaus  apportioned  among 
the  three  commissioners  as  at  present. 

4.  The  creation  of  a  municipal  council  composed  of  the  Heads 
of  Departments. 

5.  The  creation  of  a  new  municipal  department  to  be  called 
the  department  of  housing  and  labor. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  first  four  recommendations  relate  to 
changes  in  the  machinery  of  government,  while  the  last  deals 
directly  with  the  problems  of  social  reform.  I  shall  make  only 
brief  comment  on  the  first,  third  and  fourth,  dwelling  more 
at  length  on  the  second  and  fifth,  as  presenting  appropriate 
topics  for  discussion  before  this  convention. 

The  substitution  of  a  single  executive  for  three  commissioners  of 
equal  authority  would  be  a  step  so  clearly  in  the 
A  Single  interest  of  definiteness  of  responsibility  and  of 

Responsible  efficiency,  as  hardly  to  need  discussion.  Definite 
Executive  responsibility  and  efficiency  are  fundamentals 

of  all  good  municipal  government,  and  muni- 
cipal reformers,  are,  I  believe,  of  one  mind  as  to  their  importance. 

I  may  state  that  I  am  not  judging  recent  experiments  made 
in  a  few  cities  of  electing  heads  of  departments  and  making  them 
a  board  of  control.  Such  elected  officials,  if  I  am  rightly  informed , 
are  supreme  in  the  main  concerns  of  their  own  departments  and 
their  responsibilities  are  definite,  so  far  as  they  go.  The  com- 
plaints most  frequently  made  to  me  regarding  the  government 
of  Washington,  were  the  inability  to  determine  responsibility  and 
the  delay  occasioned  by  the  fact  that  all  important  responsibil- 
ties  were  threefold  rather  than  single. 

The  creation  of  distinct  departments  under  one  head  in  place 


THE  WASHINGTON  SITUATION 


of  several  departments  and  bureaus  under  one  head  is  recom- 
mended because  of  the  great  increase  in  population  in  Wash- 
ington since  the  establishraent  of  the  present  form  of  govern- 
ment. The  proposed  plan  would  give  seven  commissioners,  each 
the  clearly  recognized  head  of  a  department  in  place  of  three 
commissioners  having  divided  authority  over  two  or  more 
departments.  Such  heads  of  departments  could  easily  be  drawn 
from  present  competent  bureau  chiefs  and  from  the  group  of 
able  citizens  who  have  taken  an  active  interest  in  the  affairs  of 
the  District. 

The  creation  of  a  new  municipal  council  is  a  necessary  result  of 
the  proposed  abolition  of  the  offices  of  the  district  commis- 
sioners who  have  the  power  to  pass  ordinances. 
A  Municipal  It  is  proposed  that  the  seven  heads  of  depart- 
Coimcil  ments  should  constitute  the  mimicipal  council. 

The  present  council  composed  of  the  commis- 
sioners gives  public  hearings  on  important  measures,  but  its 
sessions  have  not  been  public.  The  recommendation  is  that 
the  regular  sessions  of  the  council  should  always  be  public,  any 
citizen  having  the  right  to  attend. 

The  determination  of  eUgibility  for  the  position  of  governor 
of  the  District  of  Columbia  merits  careful  consideration.  Under 
the  present  system  two  of  the  district  commissioners  "must 
have  been  actual  residents  of  the  District  for  three  years  before 
their  appointment,  and  have  during  that  period  claimed  resi- 
dence nowhere  else."  The  third  is  detailed  by  the  President 
from  the  Engineer  Corps  of  the  United  States  Army.  The 
governor  to  be  appointed  would  be  the  chief  executive  of  the 
national  capital.  The  position  would  be  one  of  dignity  demand- 
ing a  high  grade  of  efficiency  and  experience  in  municipal  affairs. 
As  Washington  is  the  national  capital,  the  national  government 
paying  half  the  expenses  of  its  administration,  and  the  national 
legislature  passing  its  laws,  it  would  seem  appropriate  that  this 
official  should  be  chosen  from  the  entire  country  and  that 
eligibility  shotdd  be  limited  to  successful  municipal  executives. 
In  other  words,  it  would  be  a  position  where  the  merit  system 
would  most  appropriately  apply.  It  is  on  this  grovmd  that  I 
recommended  that  while  citizens  of  the  District  should  be 


JAMES  BRONSON  REYNOLDS  251 

eligible  as  before,  the  field  of  eligibility  should  be  extended  to 
include  those  who  have  served  not  less  than  one  term  as  mayor 
in  a  city  of  not  less  than  50,000  inhabitants.  The  further  princi- 
pal reasons  for  this  recommendation  are  the  following: 

1.  The  successful  experience  of  American  cities  which  have 
imported  municipal  officers  from  without  solely  on  the  ground 

of  their  demonstrated  merit.  Such  alleged 
The  Proposed  violation  of  home  rule  has  always  encountered 
Governor  violent  opposition.    Local  patronage  hunters 

and  exponents  of  local  pride,  array  themselves 
against  the  importation  of  outsiders,  and  home  rulers  urge  the 
peculiar  demands  of  "peculiar  local  conditions."  Occasional 
mistakes  are  of  course  made,  but  I  believe  it  can  clearly  be  shown 
that  they  are  not  to  be  charged  against  the  principle  of  selec- 
tion. In  one  department  of  municipal  administration,  that  of 
education,  the  selection  of  officials  on  merit  without  regard  to 
residence  has  been  accepted  or  tolerated  and  is  now  largely 
practiced  in  many  of  our  cities.  Washington  itself,  for  instance, 
has  contributed  many  of  its  best  school  teachers  to  positions  of 
importance  in  the  school  system  of  other  cities.  Its  home  rulers 
and  local  pride  experts  do  not  object  to  this  side  of  the  applica- 
tion of  the  principle. 

Heads  of  departments  also  have  been  occasionally  sought 
by  our  larger  cities.  One  of  the  most  successful  instances  of 
what  might  be  termed  this  principle  of  national  selection  for 
local  office  was  the  call  of  Col.  George  E.  Waring  to  become 
street  cleaning  commissioner  of  New  York.  Violent  opposition 
was  made  by  all  the  local  pride  element,  and  there  was  the  usual 
talk  of  the  inability  of  the  outsider  to  understand  the  peculiar 
conditions  of  our  city.  Without  attempting  at  all  points  to 
understand  these  peculiar  conditions.  Col.  Waring  devoted  him- 
self to  dealing  with  the  public  question  of  cleaning  the  streets. 
He  disregarded  the  local  judgment  based  on  long  experience, 
that  the  streets  could  not  be  cleaned  and  he  cleaned  them. 
But  he  went  further,  he  aroused  the  citizens  to  an  understanding 
of  their  local  needs  never  before  appreciated,  and  he  brought  the 
freshness  of  viewpoint  of  the  outsider  and  the  outsider's  freedom 
from  local  entanglements  and  intolerance  of  long  entrenched 


252  THE  WASHINGTON  SITUATION 

local  abuses.  Thus  it  may  fairly  be  contended  that  if  the  out- 
sider labors  under  certain  possible  disadvantages  at  the  start, 
he  may  bring  other  more  than  compensating  advantages. 

2.  The  experience  of  the  larger  German  cities,  generally 
admitted  to  be  the  best  governed  in  the  world,  in  drawing  their 
mayors  from  among  those  who  had  earned  experience  and 
achieved  distinction  as  mayors  of  smaller  cities.  The  mayors 
of  German  cities  are  elected  by  the  municipal  council  and  it  is 
a  xmiformly  accepted  principle  to  choose  the  mayors  of  larger 
cities  from  those  who  have  successfully  administered  the  affairs 
of  smaller  cities.  The  present  mayor  of  Berlin,  for  instance,  be- 
gan his  career,  if  I  recall  correctly,  as  mayor  of 

German  Dusseldorf  and  was  subsequently  mayor  of 

Precedents  Leipsig.  His  success  in  both  cities  led  the 
municipal  council  of  BerUn  to  invite  him  to 
become  its  mayor.  I  learned  that  he  was  highly  esteemed 
by  those  elements  of  the  Berlin  populace  which  might  be  pecu- 
liarly sensitive  to  any  ignorance  or  indifference  on  the  part  of 
the  chief  executive  to  the  local  needs  of  the  metropohs.  The 
mayor  of  Frankfort  also  had  service  in  two  smaller  cities  before 
being  called  to  take  charge  of  the  affairs  of  the  most  prosperous 
city  of  Germany. 

3.  Our  present  conception  of  the  qualifications  for  the  office 
of  chief  municipal  executive.  A  steadily  increasing  number  of 
our  citizens  recognize  that  city  government  is  a  business  which 
like  all  businesses  demands  special  experience  and  train- 
ing. We  do  not  put  a  man  at  the  head  of  a  large  business  who 
has  no  expert  knowledge  of  that  business.  The  government 
of  the  national  capital  is  a  large  business  and  its  head  should  not 
be  a  novice  at  his  trade.  He  should  be  appointed  because  he 
has  had  requisite  experience  and  training  in  this  particular 
branch  of  public  service  and  has  demonstrated  his  knowledge 
and  ability.  Those  familiar  with  municipal  progress  in  our 
country  are  aware  of  the  increasing  number  of  able  municipal 
executives  who  are  being  developed  in  our  cities.  Such  execu- 
tives at  the  end  of  one  or  two  terms  have  no  opporttmity  in  the 
line  of  their  successful  experience.  From  this  wide  field  of 
eligibility  might  be  appointed  by  the  President  one  of  pre- 


JAMES  BRONSON  REYNOLDS 


253 


eminently  successful  achievement,  who  would  be  worthy  of 
the  high  honor  of  being  the  chief  executive  of  the  national 
capital. 

My  final  recommendation  was  the  creation  of  a  new  municipal 
department,  to  be  known  as  the  department  of  housing  and 

labor.  My  conviction  of  the  need  of  such  a 
Department  department  is  based  not  merely  upon  my  inves- 
of  Housing  tigations  in  Washington,  but  also  upon  a  ten 
and  Labor         years'  study  of  conditions  and  needs  in  New 

York  City,  together  with  a  somewhat  extensive 
observation  of  the  governments  of  the  principal  European  cap- 
itals. It  is  my  belief  that  there  exists  in  Washington,  and  the 
same  is  true  of  all  our  large  cities,  the  need  of  coordinating  into 
an  efficient,  well  administered  department,  all  those  instrumen- 
talities for  the  protection  of  the  independent  industrial  class 
which  neither  seeks  nor  desires  charity  and  which  at  present 
receives  wholly  inadequate  protection.  For  the  victims  of  mis- 
fortune we  have  provided  our  department  of  charities.  For 
the  delinquent  members  of  society,  we  have  our  department  of 
corrections.  But  for  those  who  are  neither  dependent  nor 
delinquent,  but  through  accident  or  misfortune  may  become 
either  or  both,  we  show  the  most  meager  public  interest.  Per- 
haps the  most  impressive  and  instructive  lesson  which  came  to 
me  from  ten  years'  residence  in  the  most  congested  section  of 
New  York  City,  was  the  realization  of  the  extent  of  the  truth 
of  the  scriptural  statement,  "the  affliction  of  the  poor  is  their 
poverty. "  Pitfalls  surround  the  poor  which  neither  entrap  nor 
endanger  the  well  conditioned.  If  the  poor  man  when  out  of 
work  resorts  to  the  employment  agency,  if  in  temporary  embar- 
rassment he  goes  to  the  pawnshop,  or  the  loan  company,  or  if 
in  prosperity  he  joins  a  Mutual  Benefit  Society,  the  chances  are 
that  he  will  be  exploited  or  swindled  out  of  his  hard  earned 
money.  Our  increasing  knowledge  of  sanitation  and  our  recog- 
nition of  its  value  have  caused  us  to  give  the  workman  better 
care  in  his  home  and  in  his  workshop.  But  the  protection  given 
to  them  should  be  much  better,  and  in  my  judgment  the  service 
to  that  end  might  wisely  be  connected  with  the  service  for  the 
safeguarding  of  the  industrial  class  in  the  above  mentioned 


aS4 


THE  WASHINGTON  SITUATION 


business  relations.  To  make  clearer  my  plan,  may  I  comment 
briefly  on  the  bureaus  proposed  in  connection  with  this  Depart- 
ment? 

The  District  of  Columbia  being  both  a  city  and  territory  should 
have  the  best  features  of  both  forms  of  government.  A  bureau 
of  statistics  fulfilling  the  functions  of  the  state 
The  Bureau  labor  bureaus  v/ould,  through  its  trained  staff, 
of  Statistics  investigate  those  industrial  problems  for  which 
the  District  at  present  has  no  special  machin- 
ery, and  thereby  facilitate  a  more  thorough  consideration  of  them 
by  the  public  authorities  than  is  possible  under  existing  arrange- 
ments. 

This  bureau  should  enforce  the  laws  regarding  tenements, 
small  houses,  alley  shacks  and  alleys.  The  recent  experience 
of  the  New  York  City  Tenement  House  De- 
Bureau  of  partment  shows  that  the  supervision  of  these 
Housing  houses  by  a  special  department  defines  respon- 
sibility and  brings  better  results  than  when 
a  general  building  department  controls  all  classes  of  private 
buildings. 

This  bureau  would  exercise  the  double  function  of  the  protec- 
tion of  the  industrial  classes  and  minor  government  employees  in 
Bureau  of  their  dealings  with  employment  agencies,  pawn- 
j^^^^^  shops,  and  loan  companies,  and  of  the  inspec- 

tion of  factories,  workshops  and  stores. 
Employment  agencies,  pawn-shops,  and  loan  companies  in 
this  country  have  thus  far  generally  been  under  police  oversight. 
Except  for  such  police  supervision  the  defects  of  these  concerns 
are  usually  ignored  or  their  correction  is  sought  through  private 
philanthropy.  In  Europe,  on  the  contrary. 
Public  their  economic  importance  is  so  well  recognized 

Employment  that  employment  agencies  and  pawn-shops  are 
Agencies  usually  public  institutions  ably  managed  by 

trained  officials. 
Until  recently  public  employment  agencies  were  not  a  success 
in  this  country  because  of  inadequate  appropriations  and  polit- 
ical manipulation.    The  Massachusetts  State  Employment  Bu- 
reau as  at  present  administered,  however,  compares  favorably 


JAMES  BRONSON  REYNOLDS 


255 


with  European  public  agencies  and  its  value  to  employers  and 
employees  throughout  the  state  has  led  the  Massachusetts  legis- 
lature to  authorize  the  opening  of  branches  in  the  leading  cities 
of  the  state.  The  time  has  perhaps  not  yet  come  for  a  public 
employment  agency  in  Washington,  but  its  existing  private 
agencies  should  be  placed  under  a  bureau  commissioned  to  pro- 
mote and  supervise  the  adjustment  of  the  supply  and  demand 
of  labor  as  well  as  to  prevent  frauds  against  employers  and 
employees. 

Pawn-shops  are  the  laborer's  chief  resource  for  raising  money 
in  time  of  need.  They  are  a  business  necessity  under  existing 
conditions,  but  their  terms  are  oppressive,  their 
Municipal  rates  of  interest  exorbitant,  their  contracts 

Pawn-Shops  often  purposely  obscure  or  tricky.  The  public 
pawn-shops  of  Europe  on  the  other  hand,  grant 
moderate  loans  upon  reasonable  conditions  and  are  honestly 
managed  in  the  interests  of  their  customers.  Equally  satisfac- 
tory results  have  been  achieved  in  this  country  through  semi- 
philanthropic  enterprises  such  as  the  Provident  Loan  Society 
of  New  York.  But  private  philanthropy  can  not  cover  the 
entire  field  and  the  ends  desired  must  be  obtained  through  public 
pawn-shops  like  those  of  Europe  or  through  comprehensive 
public  supervision  of  private  pawn-shops.  The  private  pawn- 
shops of  Washington  have  the  defects  of  their  class.  Their 
supervision  should  be  not  that  of  the  police  merely,  but  of  an 
authority  having  the  broader  powers  that  I  recommend  for  the 
above-named  bureau. 

Loan  companies  may  be  placed  in  the  same  category  with 
pawn-shops  since  they  make  small  loans  to  borrowers  having 
limited  means.  Without  detailing  many  complaints  made  to 
me  of  recording  the  special  defects  of  these  companies,  I  recom- 
mend for  them  the  same  comprehensive  supervision  as  for  pawn- 
shops. 

I  have  urged  the  importance  of  what  might  be  termed  con- 
structive supervision  of  employment  agencies,  pawn-shops, 
and  loan  companies,  because  of  the  demoralizing  effects  of 
their  methods  upon  those  with  whom  they  deal.  In  the  last 
analysis  the  public  as  usual  pays  the  bill  for  the  poverty  and 


356 


THE  WASHINGTON  SITUATION 


crime  engendered.  These  impositions  might  be  removed  and 
the  public  benefited  instead  of  injured  through  intelHgent,  com- 
prehensive supervision  in. the  interest  of  all  parties  concerned. 

Of  equal  importance  to  the  laboring  classes  is  the  second  func- 
tion of  the  bureau  of  labor;  namely,  the  inspection  of  factories, 
work-shops,  and  stores  and  the  regular  supervision  of  all  places 
where  women  and  children  are  employed. 

The  evils  of  insurance  administration  on  the  side  of  high 
finance  have  been  liberally  revealed  in  the  past  two  years. 

Equal  attention  might  advantageously  be  given 
Bureau  of  to  the  economic  features  of  insurance  in  their 

Insurance  effects  upon  the  laboring  classes.    I  refer  par- 

ticularly to  industrial  insurance  companies, 
and  benefit  societies.  The  disproportionate  expense  of  the 
weekly  collections  of  the  industrial  insurance  companies,  the 
frequent  misuse  of  the  policies  on  the  death  of  the  insured,  the 
frauds  practiced  by  undertakers,  the  iinscientific,  actuarial  basis 
of  many  benefit  societies  all  merit  careful  and  constant  attention. 
For  the  legitimate  welfare  of  the  industrial  classes  all  these 
features  of  insurance  should  be  brought  under  the  regulative 
attention  of  the  bureau  of  insurance. 

For  the  protection  of  our  industrial  class  and  for  the  welfare 
of  society  as  a  whole,  these  interests  and  concerns  of  the  poor 
should  be  adequately  safeguarded  and  their  efficiency  and 
proper  service  promoted. 


The  Wisconsin  Public  Utilities  Law 


By  DR.  B.  H.  MEYER 
Chairman,  Railroad  Commission  of  Madison,  Wisconsin 

The  public  utilities  law  of  Wisconsin  was  enacted  July  9, 
1907.  It  confers  jurisdiction  upon  the  commission  over  com- 
panies producing  or  transmitting  light,  heat,  water,  power, 
and  over  telephone  companies.  The  railroad  commission  law 
of  1905  conferred  similar  jurisdiction  over  steam  and  electric 
railroads  and  all  instrumentalities  of  transportation  connected 
therewith  as  well  as  over  telegraph  and  express  companies. 
Both  the  railroad  commission  law  and  the  public  utiUties  law, 
together  with  some  thirty-five  additional  statutes,  are  admin- 
istered by  the  railroad  commission  of  Wisconsin.  When  the 
duties  and  powers  of  the  commission  were  very  greatly  ex- 
tended in  1907,  through  the  enactment  of  the  utihties  law  and 
other  statutes,  the  name  of  the  commission  was  not  changed. 
While,  therefore,  the  railroad  commission  is  in  effect  a  public 
utilities  commission,  performing  all  the  duties  and  functions 
which  such  a  commission  may  well  be  imagined  as  performing, 
it  is  still  legally  the  railroad  commission. 

The  general  legal  and  administrative  principles  which  underlie 
the  railroad  commission  law  also  underlie  the  public  utilities 
law.  Like  the  railroad  commission  law,  the  public  utilities 
law  imposes  upon  the  respective  managements  of  private  and 
municipal  plants  the  duty  of  establishing  reasonable  rates  and 
regulating  reasonably  adequate  service  in  the  first  instance. 
The  initial  responsibility  lies  with  the  managements,  who  must 
select  the  agencies,  materials  and  methods  through  which  the 
service  is  provided.  All  rates,  rules,  regulations  and  service 
may  be  challenged  at  any  time,  and  revised  or  modified  by  the 
commission.    The  theory  of  the  law  and  of  its  administration 

(257) 


WISCONSIN  PUBLIC  UTILITIES  LAW 


is  to  place  the  respective  managements  on  the  defensive,  throw- 
ing the  burden  upon  them  to  justify  their  rates  and  service 
■whenever  the  issue  is  raised  before  the  commission.  The  com- 
mission may  act  both  upon  complaint  and  upon  its  own  initiative 
with  respect  to  all  matters  relating  to  public  utilities. 

The  most  important  provisions  of  the  public  utiUties  law  may 
be  grouped  about  for  leading  heads,  namely,  valuation,  account- 
ing, rates  and  service. 

The  law  imposes  upon  the  commission  the  duty  of  valuing 
all  the  public  utility  plants  in  the  State  of  Wisconsin.  Up 
to  the  present  time  by  far  the  greater  number 
Valuation  of  plants  which  have  been  valued  were  valued 

in  connection  with  proceedings  in  which  they 
were  involved.  Naturally  this  order  of  valuation  will  soon 
have  to  be  broken  when  the  number  of  complaints  involv- 
ing rates  will  probably  decrease  and  the  commission  can  then 
take  a  survey  of  the  whole  field  and  systematically  complete 
the  valuation  of  all  the  plants  as  contemplated  in  the  law.  Such 
valuations  must  be  published  within  five  days  after  the  same 
have  been  determined  by  the  commission. 

The  first,  and  perhaps  most  important,  step  in  the  valuation 
of  these  plants  is  the  valuation  of  the  physical  property.  The 
law  reqvdres  a  valuation  to  be  made  of  all  the  property  used 
and  useful  for  the  convenience  of  the  public.  Perhaps  in  all 
cases  the  great  bulk  of  such  property  is  the  physical  property. 
At  the  outset,  the  engineers  of  the  commission  solicit  the  aid 
of  the  engineers  of  the  various  companies  and  preliminary 
conferences  are  held,  at  which  all  the  parties  in  interest  are 
represented  for  the  discussion  of  ways  and  means  of  making 
the  valuation  at  the  least  possible  expense  to  the  state  and  to 
the  companies  and  with  the  least  possible  interruption  of  the 
routine  work  of  the  utihties.  In  part  jointly  with  the  State 
Tax  Commission,  the  railroad  commission  maintains  a  con- 
siderable engineering  staff,  which  is  subdivided  into  teams, 
each  team  devoting  itself  to  a  particular  branch  of  the  work  of 
valuation.  In  addition  to  these  there  are,  of  course,  inspectors, 
to  whom  reference  will  be  made  in  another  connection.  Where 
the  companies  have  made  a  careful  inventory  of  their  property, 


B.  H.  MEYER 


259 


the  engineers  of  the  commission  take  this  and  check  it  up  and 
test  it  in  the  field  and  in  the  office  item  by  item.  This  has  been 
the  general  rule,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  satisfaction  to  be  able 
to  state  that  in  several  instances  of  the  valuation  of  important 
plants  the  differences  between  the  company's  staff  and  the 
commission's  staff  were  so  slight  that  little  time  was  devoted  in 
formal  proceedings  before  the  commission  to  the  inventory  or 
physical  valuation.  In  other  cases  again,  many  apparently 
irreconcilable  differences  developed  and  much  time  of  the  com- 
mission had  to  be  devoted  to  the  taking  of  testimony  with  respect 
to  the  items  in  dispute. 

Thus  far  only  one  valuation  has  been  made  for  the  purpose 
of  acquisition  of  a  private  plant  by  the  municipality  under  the 
indeterminate  franchise  provisions  of  the  law.  In  connection 
with  this  work  the  engineering  staff  of  the  commission  has  col- 
lected and  compiled  elaborate  data  relating  to  prices  and  lives 
of  all  the  constituent  parts  of  the  physical  plants  of  all  the  differ- 
ent classes  of  utilities.  These  data  constitute  one  of  the  most 
valuable  resources  within  the  reach  of  the  commission  upon  all 
questions  of  physical  value. 

In  addition  to  the  physical  value,  there  naturally  arise  the 
questions  of  the  value  of  the  franchise,  good  will,  and  going 
value.  Thus  far,  practically  no  utility  man- 
The  Valuation  agements  have  claimed  franchise  value  to  be 
of  Franchises  used  by  the  Commission  in  the  establishment  of 
rates.  The  element  of  good  will  has  scarcely 
been  mentioned  as  an  element  separate  and  apart  from  going 
value.  Incidentally,  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  statutes  of 
Wisconsin  treat  all  utilities,  except  telephones,  as  monopolies,  as 
shown  by  the  provisions  of  the  utilities  law  relating  to  indetermin- 
ate franchises  and  the  granting  of  the  certificate  of  convenience 
and  necessity.  The  telephone  business  is,  however,  still  sub- 
ject to  the  inroads  of  competition,  and  so  far  as  the  statutes  are 
concerned,  it  is  technically  a  competitive  business.  It  is,  there- 
fore, not  impossible  that  in  the  valuation  of  telephone  plants,  an 
element  of  good  will,  using  this  term  technically,  as  something 
different  than  "going  value,"  may  have  to  be  included,  which 
will  probably  have  to  be  excluded  in  the  case  of  all  other  classes 


2  6o  WISCONSIN  PUBLIC  UTILITIES  LAW 


of  utilities.  In  fact  several  companies  have  explicitly  stated  in 
their  testimony  that  they  made  no  claim  of  franchise  values  and 
good  will.  Under  the  head  of  going  value,  representations  have 
been  made  to  the  effect  that  all  the  way  from  5  to  100  per  cent 
of  the  physical  value  should  be  added  in  order  to  arrive  at  the 
true  and  lawful  value  to  be  used  in  the  establishment  of  just  and 
reasonable  rates.  The  widest  range  of  reasoning  is  embraced 
in  this  class  of  testimony  now  before  the  commission. 

If  any  one  tendency  in  this  testimony  may  be  characterized 
as  typical  as  compared  with  other  tendencies  represented  in  the 
same  testimony,  it  is  the  tendency  to  make  a  going  value  stand 
for  expense  which  has  been  incurred  for  outlays  and  services  in 
connection  with  the  upbuilding  of  the  business  of  the  utilities, 
and  in  return  for  which  no  adequate  remuneration  has  hitherto 
been  made.  In  other  instances,  going  value  has  been  represented 
as  something  very  real,  existing  in  connection  with  every  plant, 
entirely  independent  of  expense,  past  losses  or  profits  and 
capable  of  fairly  definite  quantitative  determination.  Since 
the  Wisconsin  commission  has  not  yet  formally  declared  an 
official  opinion  with  respect  to  these  intangible  items  of  value, 
it  will  not  be  possible  to  discuss  these  topics  in  greater  detail 
or  at  greater  length  at  this  time.  The  commission  has  not  yet 
made  up  its  mind. 

The  law  gives  the  commission  the  power  and  it  makes  it  its 
duty  to  prescribe  uniform  forms  of  accounts  for  all  the  public 
utilities  operating  within  the  state.    Soon  after 
Accounts  the  enactment  of  the  law,  the  various  utili- 

ties submitted  financial  statements  to  the  com- 
mission, which  in  a  measure,  gave  some  indication  of  the  extent 
and  character  of  the  accounts  kept  by  them.  Since  that  time 
a  number  of  conferences  have  been  held  and  a  great  deal  of 
detailed  work  has  been  done  under  the  direction  of  the  Com- 
mission, but  the  final  accounts  have  not  yet  been  officially  pro- 
mulgated. The  titles  of  the  leading  accounts  were  sent  out  to 
the  different  companies  some  months  ago  in  order  that  the 
respective  managements  might  begin  to  shape  their  books  with 
reference  to  the  same,  and  it  is  hoped  that  in  the  not  distant 
future  the  final  forms  may  be  submitted.    The  theory  of  this 


B.  H.  MEYER 


261 


system  of  accounts  is  that  the  books  shall  be  kept  in  such  a 
way  that  after  the  physical  value  of  a  plant  has  once  been  ascer- 
tained the  valuation  will  be  kept  up  practically  in  a  systematic 
way,  so  that  the  commission,  or  any  other  authority,  may  see 
from  year  to  year  exactly  what  the  financial  condition  of  any 
particular  plant  is.  The  system  of  uniform  accounts  applies 
both  to  private  plants  and  to  municipal  plants.  This  feature 
of  the  law  is  especially  noteworthy  in  that  it  at  last  makes  it 
possible  to  establish  a  comparable  basis  for  public  and  private 
plants.  Investigations  made  thus  far  by  the  commission  show 
that  not  only  does  great  variety  exist  among  the  private  plants, 
but  also  among  the  public  or  municipal  plants,  and  that  the 
accounts  of  the  municipal  plants  are,  in  many  instances  only 
partial  accounts,  not  showing  all  the  operations  and  expenses 
of  such  plants.  While  this  is  generally  true,  it  can  best  be 
shown  from  the  water  works  investigations.  In  eight  Wisconsin 
cities  of  over  five  thousand  population,  the  municipal  water 
works  accounts  show  that  there  is  no  credit  given  for  public 
service,  four  of  these  showing  a  deficit  for  the  year,  which  in 
three  cases  would  very  likely  disappear  and  show  a  surplus,  if 
the  plant  were  credited  with  revenues  which  justly  belonged  to  it. 

Out  of  fifty-six  municipal  water  plants  in  cities  under  five 
thousand  population,  thirty-three  reported  a  deficit  for  the 
last  fiscal  year.  Of  this  total  number  twenty-five  cities  did  not 
credit  the  plant  with  any  earnings  for  public  service  and  of 
these  twenty- five  city  plants,  twenty-two  showed  a  deficit. 
Twenty-eight  municipal  water  plants  showed  no  general  expense 
whatever,  such  service  being  furnished  by  other  city  employees. 
Under  the  proper  separation  of  accounts  and  the  adoption  of  a 
uniform  system,  an  entirely  diflferent  situation,  just  to  the  city 
and  to  the  plant  management,  would  be  revealed. 

As  previously  suggested,  the  managements  of  the  private 
companies  and  municipal  plants  establish  rates  in  the  first 
instance.  Such  rates  are  subject  to  revision  by 
Rates  the  commission,  either  on  complaint  or  on  the 

initiative  of  the  commission.  The  commission 
has  been  endeavoring  to  elaborate  the  principles  upon  which 
just  and  reasonable  rates  should  be  based  for  all  the  different 


262 


WISCONSIN  PUBLIC  UTILITIES  LAW 


utilities,  and  in  a  considerable  ntimber  of  instances  schedtiles  have 
been  prescribed  in  which  these  principles  are  discussed.  Many 
more  schedules  are  still  under  consideration,  and  the  commission 
hopes  that  in  the  not  distant  future  all  the  utiUties  operating 
within  the  state  will  make  their  rates  in  accordance  with  uniform 
principles  representing  the  latest  and  best  which  scientific 
methods  and  scientific  thought  can  contribute. 

With  respect  to  service,  the  commission  has  put  into  effect  a 
series  of  rules  regulating  gas  and  electric  service.  Other  rules  and 
regulations  applicable  to  the  other  utiUties  may  be  adopted  in  the 

futtire.  The  rules  relating  to  gas  and  electric  ser- 
Service  vice  prescribe  certain  standards  for  gas  pressure, 

quality  of  the  gas,  voltage,  care  ofthe  lamps,  lamp 
renewal,  records  of  complaints,  disttu-bance  in  the  service,  etc.  A 
full  and  complete  administration  of  this  feature  of  the  commis- 
sion's work  will  ultimately  require  a  considerable  inspectional  staff. 
This  the  commission  does  not  feel  justified  in  employing  at  this 
particular  time,  but  it  has  decided  to  employ  a  few  competent 
inspectors  who  shall  do  thoroughly  intensive  work,  the  result 
of  which  can  be  placed  before  the  legislature  and  the  legislature 
may  then  determine  whether  or  not  it  is  in  the  interest  of  the 
citizens  of  Wisconsin  to  have  the  commission  proceed  with  the 
more  elaborate  inspectional  work  covering  the  state  as  a  whole. 
The  results  of  these  inspections  show  the  widest  variations  in 
the  character  of  the  service  and  many  conspicouus  failures  to 
provide  anything  Uke  what  may  be  characterized  as  adequate 
service.  In  illustration  of  this,  reference  may  be  made  to  the 
above  mentioned  decision  of  the  Commission  in  the  matter  of 
standards  for  gas  and  electric  service  in  the  state  of  Wisconsin 
in  which  tables  are  presented  which  show  the  results  of  the 
preliminary  tests. 

All  orders  of  the  commission  are  subject  to  appeal.  Thus 
far,  only  three  of  the  decisions  imder  the  railroad  commission 

law  have  been  taken  into  court,  and  no  utiU- 
Appeal  to  ties  decisions.    Such  appeal  is  taken  first  to  the 

Courts  circuit  court  and  then  to  the  supreme  court. 

The  law  provides  that  the  record  before  the 
commission  shall  be  the  record  before  the  court,  and  if  new 


B.  H.  MEYER 


263 


testimony  should  be  introduced  before  the  court,  through  such 
introduction  and  determination  of  the  fact  that  it  is  new  testi- 
mony, a  case  is  thrown  automatically  back  before  the  commission 
for  revision  of  the  original  determination  on  the  basis  of  the 
new  testimony. 

One  of  the  three  railroad  cases,  above  referred  to  was  finally 
determined  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  Wisconsin  in  an  epoch 
making  decision  handed  down  in  Jtme  1908.  This  decision 
discusses  the  order  of  the  commission  under  review;  it  analyzes 
and  interprets  the  saUent  provisions  of  the  statute  creating  the 
commission;  it  meets  in  the  broadest  and  most  progressive 
manner  the  arguments  relating  to  constitutional  limitations 
and  the  allegations  regarding  the  exercise  of  legislative  power 
by  the  commission;  it  brings  into  clear  perspective  the  rights 
of  the  companies  as  well  as  the  rights  of  the  public ;  and  in  sub- 
stance it  declares  that  even  though  on  the  given  facts  the  court 
might  decide  a  case  differently  from  what  the  commission  does, 
if  no  errors  of  law  have  been  committed,  and  the  question  is 
one  regarding  which  reasonable  and  competent  men  might  differ, 
the  court  will  not  set  aside  the  order  of  the  commission.  In 
other  words,  the  court  may  feel  that  the  commission  should  have 
rendered  an  opposite  decision,  yet,  within  the  limits  of  the  law 
and  discretion  of  the  commission,  it  will  sustain  that  decision. 

So  far  as  I  know  this  decision  stands  practically  alone  in  this 
country  in  the  breadth  of  the  views  expressed  with  respect  to 
the  regulation  of  public  utihties  and  the  extent  of  the  support 
it  gives  to  the  administrative  authority  charged  with  that  regu- 
lation.   There  were  two  concurring  and  one  dissenting  opinion. 

Generally  speaking,  the  information  collected  by  the  com- 
mission and  the  service  performed  by  it  and  its  staff  have 
tended  to  make  the  office  of  the  commission  a 
The  Commis-  clearing  house  between  the  public  and  private 
sion  as  a  plants  and  municipaUties.     While  the  law  ex- 

Clearing  House  pressly  retains  to  the  municipalities  power  to 
control  the  various  kinds  and  character  of  service 
rendered  and  to  be  rendered,  the  power  to  prescribe  conditions 
under  which  streets  are  to  be  used,  extensions  made,  etc.,  an 
appeal  Ues  in  all  such  cases  to  the  commission  whether  a  muni- 


264 


WISCONSIN  PUBLIC  UTILITIES  LAW 


cipal  or  private  plant  is  involved.  It  has  been  the  endeavor  of 
the  commission  to  cooperate  with  the  local  authorities  and  the 
companies  along  all  these  lines.  The  law  has  been  in  effect 
only  a  little  more  than  a  year  and  a  half,  but  even  now  there 
exists  a  steady  increase  in  the  lines  of  communication  between 
the  local  managements  of  private  and  municipal  plants  and 
city  and  village  authorities  and  the  commission.  The  informa- 
tion which  has  been  collected  and  compiled  by  the  commission 
is  placed  at  the  disposition  of  all  citizens  of  the  state  in  the  most 
convenient  form.  The  use  of  this  information  by  local  authori- 
ties and  citizens  has,  in  a  number  of  instances,  obviated  the 
necessity  of  making  complaints.  In  other  instances,  it  has  led 
to  changes  in  the  plant  eqviipment  and  service.  Various  lines 
of  cooperation  between  the  commission  and  the  municipalities 
are  discussed  in  a  paper  before  the  Wisconsin  Municipal  League 
in  September,  1908,  to  which  reference  may  here  be  made. 

In  addition  to  reasonable  rates  and  reasonably  adequate  ser- 
vice, among  the  results  which  the  operation  of  the  law  has 
already  shown  and  which  the  future  may  be  expected  to  bring 
into  evidence  still  more,  may  be  mentioned  the  following: 

1.  The  Wisconsin  legislation  has  taken  the  utilities,  as  well 
as  the  railroads,  out  of  poUtics.    I  do  not  believe  that  many 

citizens  can  be  found  in  the  State  of  Wisconsin 
Utilities  Out  who  would  seriously  claim  that  in  either  the 
of  Politics  primary  campaign  or  in  the  campaign  preceding 

the  present  November  elections,  the  utilities 
as  such  had  entered  into  politics.  All  students  of  mvmicipal 
affairs  well  know  that  in  this  ehmination  of  politics  from  the 
management  of  the  utilities  we  have  removed  one  of  the  greatest 
and  most  persistent  sources  of  corruption  and  bad  government. 

2.  The  utilities  law  tends  to  eliminate  feuds  between  the  citi- 
zens and  the  managements  of  public  and  private  plants.  The 
law  assures  to  all  communities  good  service  at  reasonable  rates. 
This  is  placed  within  the  reach  of  all  impartially,  whether  the 
commission  advances  or  lowers  the  rate.  The  basis  of  its  findings 
is  published  in  every  instance.  These  published  facts  should 
suffice  to  convince,  and  I  believe  does  convince  the  average 
citizen  of  the  reasonableness  and  justice  of  the  decision,  if  it  is 


B.  H.  MEYER 


265 


reasonable  and  just,  and  whether  he  likes  it  or  not,  he  must 
abide  by  that  decision.  In  this  respect,  cases  affecting  utilities 
are  quite  different  from  the  most  of  the  cases  affecting  railroads. 
In  the  case  of  utilities  the  controversy  frequently  degenerates 
into  a  bitter  and  partisan  feud,  affecting  the  entire  population, 
which  blinds  both  sides  to  a  proper  comprehension  of  the  facts 
and  to  a  sense  of  justice.  Proceedings  before  the  Commission 
tend  to  clarify  and  educate  public  opinion. 

3.  The  public  utilities  law  raises  the  standard  of  morality 
through  the  eradication  of  the  evil  of  discrimination,  and  the 
Raises  Level  protection  of  a  reasonable  rate.  To  those  who 
of  Moral*  tv  quite  familiar  with  the  past  evils  of  discrimi- 

nation in  railway  rates,  the  extent  of  the  dis- 
criminations in  the  rates  and  service  of  utilities  may  be  almost 
beyond  comprehension.  The  whole  State  of  Wisconsin  was  liter- 
ally streaked  and  plastered  with  discrimination  in  the  rates 
of  utilities,  and  in  all  the  rest  of  the  country  where  the  extent 
of  such  discriminations  have  not  yet  been  determined,  as  they 
have  been  in  Wisconsin,  it  is  quite  probable  that  discriminations 
similar  in  character  and  extent  likewise  exist.  All  rates,  rules 
and  regulations  in  effect  in  the  state  are  on  file  with  the  com- 
mission and  these  are  the  only  rates  and  regulations  which  can 
be  lawfully  enforced  and  collected.  Free  and  reduced  rate  ser- 
vice has  been  absolutely  prohibited.  Thousands  of  individuals 
had  been  receiving  free  and  reduced  rate  service,  and  the  eradi- 
cation of  all  such  rates  cannot  help  but  serve  as  a  moral  tonic 
and  raise  the  level  of  public  and  private  morality  within  the  state 
as  a  whole.  The  following  table  illustrates  discriminations  in  the 
telephone  business  existing  shortly  before  the  commission's  order 
formally  abrogating  all  such  rates  went  into  effect.  For  thirty- 
two  of  the  reporting  companies,  8  out  of  every  100  subscribers 
received  free  or  reduced  rate  service.  The  process  of  equaliza- 
tion of  rates  had  been  going  on  for  over  a  year.  Consequently 
the  actual  extent  of  the  unjust  discriminations  was  doubtless 
very  much  greater  at  the  time  of  the  enactment  of  the  law.  In 
the  following  table  the  numbers  given  under  each  of  the  rates 
represent  the  number  of  subscribers  enjoing  the  respective  dis- 
criminatory rates.    I  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  in  every 


266  WISCONSIN  PUBLIC  UTILITIES  LAW 


Table  IV. 


Regular 
Rates 

Free 

SO. 31 

$0.42 

$0.50 

$0.58 

$0.75 

$0.83 

$0.92 

$1.00 

$1.08 

1  1 
1 

$1.25  $1.42  $1.50 

.50 
.66 
.83 
1.00 
1.04 
1.25 
1.50 
1.75 
2.00 
2.08 
2.25 
2.50 
2.75 
3.00 
3.50 
3.75 
4.00 
4.50 
6.00 

3 

4 
3 
2 
5 
17 

49 
2 

14 

18 
2 

1 

15 

2 

12 

6 
1 

7 

361 

36 
73 

12 
1 
1 

105 
497 

417 

326 

2 
35 

85 
6 
0 

305 
168 

1 
66 

13 
7 

Total 
Phones 

135 

2 

12 

6 

7 

484 

3 

2 

1,382 

7 

106 

1 

560 

Total  Actual 
Charge 

$0.62 

$5.04 

$3.00 

$4.06 

$363.00 

$2.49 

1 

$1.84 

$1,382.00 

$7.56 

i 

$132.50$1.42 

i  ! 

$840.00 

B.  H.  MEYER 


267 


Discriminatory  Rates 


1.62S1.67 


$1.75 


$1.83 


$1.87 


$1.88 


$2.00 


$2.08 


$2.25 


$2.50 


$2.92 


$3.00 


$4.75 


Total 
Phones 


3 

$1.50 

7 

4.62 

16 

13.28 

372 

372.00 

2 

2.08 

155 

193.75 

674 

1,011.00 

312 

546.00 

656 

1,312.00 

2 

4.16 

3 

6.75 

567 

1,417.50 

374 

1,028.50 

69 

207.00 

106 

371.00 

4 

15.00 

9 

36.00 

34 

153.00 

1 

6.00 

2 
141 
374 
10 
10 


16 
48 


16 


537 


27 


64 


3,336 


$4. 86  $3. 34  $10. 50  $1.83 


$1.87 


$7.52 


$1,074.00 


$56.16$9.00 


$160.00 


$2.92 


$24. 00  $4. 75 


Excess  of  Free  Monthly  Service  =  $2,596.86 
Annual  Discrimination  =  $31,162.32 


A.  L.  M.,  Nov.  5,  1908. 


268  WISCONSIN  PUBLIC  UTILITIES  LAW 


other  state  of  the  Union  these  discriminations  still  flourish  at  the 
expense  of  subscribers  who  pay  the  full  rate. 

4.  The  utiUties  law  is  working  a  revolution  in  business  manage- 
ment. While  some  managements  are  doubtless  models  from  a 
business  point  of  view,  they  are  not  the  general  rule.  Many  of 
the  UtiUties  companies  have  not  been  operated  on  a  business 
basis;  in  fact,  it  is  probable  that  a  good  many  of  the  manage- 
ments did  not  have  the  remotest  idea  as  to  the  exact  standing 
from  a  business  point  of  view  of  the  plant  they  were  operating. 
Uniform  accounting,  rlues  governing  the  service  and  the  regu- 
lation of  rates  compels  the  adoption  of  business  and  scientific 
methods,  which  is  resulting  in  nothing  short  of  a  revolution  in 
management. 

5.  All  of  the  effects  of  the  law,  taken  collectively,  are  bound 
to  place  investments  in  public  utility  enterprises  on  a  more  stable 

foundation.  The  law  works  both  ways.  On  the 
Investments  one  hand,  it  protects  the  consumer  against 
More  unjust  and  unreasonable  rates  and  poor  service. 

Attractive  and  on  the  other  it  protects  the  investor  in 

his  claim  to  a  reasonable  rate  on  the  property 
which  is  devoted  to  public  use.  This  legislation  will  probably 
remove  pubhc  utility  investments  very  greatly,  if  not  entirely, 
from  the  field  of  speculation  and  place  them  in  the  class  of  con- 
servative, certain  and  stable  investments. 

This  paper  has  been  made  brief  on  the  assumption  that  it 
will  merely  serve  as  a  text  for  discussion.  I  have  naturally 
viewed  the  law  in  the  perspective  of  its  administration.  Some 
of  its  novel  features  have  not  even  been  mentioned.  The  skele- 
ton of  the  UtiUties  law  has  been  outlined.  Other  important  laws 
administered  by  the  commission  have  likewise  not  been  treated. 


The  New  York  Public  Service  Commissions 


HON.  THOMAS  M.  OSBORNE 
Member  of  Commission  No.  2  and  formerly  Mayor  of  Auburn 

I  regret  very  much  that  I  do  not  come  prepared  with  a  formal 
paper,  written  as  I  should  like  to  have  had  it  written,  and  such 
as  you  have  a  right  to  expect.  I  think,  however,  Dr.  Meyer 
will  agree  with  me  that  members  of  a  public  service  com- 
mission get  into  the  very  bad  habit  of  putting  off  anything  that 
can  be  put  oE  until  the  last  minute  and  as  my  last  minutes  have 
been  spent  in  a  sleeping-car  I  have  arrived  without  any  such 
paper  as  you  ought  to  receive  from  me. 

I  have  listened  as  you  all  have,  with  a  great  deal  of  interest 
to  Dr.  Meyer's  paper.  Those  of  us  who  have  been  trying  to 
wrestle  with  the  same  problem  know  the  excellent  work  of  the 
Wisconsin  Commission.  We  wish  we  had  Dr.  Meyer  in  our 
State ;  and  if  he  will  only  migrate  to  New  York  I  will  undertake 
to  provide  a  vacancy  upon  the  New  York  Commission,  to  which 
he  would  be  appointed  in  very  short  order. 

In  New  York  State  we  have  lately  been  bothered  by  a  new 
political  catch-word — "Government  by  commission."  During 
the  late  State  campaign  one  could  hear  on  all 
Government  by  sides,  "Yes,  I  admit  this  or  that;  but  I  am 
Commission  opposed  to  government  by  commission ; ' '  and  one 
of  the  ablest  and  most  perverse  of  our  metro- 
politan newspapers  announced  itself  as  being  in  favor  of  "the 
summary  arrest  and  so  far  as  practical  the  abolition  of  govern- 
ment by  commission,  whereof  the  portentous  growth  in  state 
and  nation  constitutes  one  of  the  greatest  dangers  of  the  times 
and  whereof  the  extreme  of  futiUty  has  been  illustrated  in 
Governor  Hughes's  principal  creature" — the  "creature"  referred 

(269) 


27©         NEW  YORK  PUBLIC  SERVICE  COMMISSIONS 


to  being  the  Public  Service  Commission,  of  which  I  have  the 
honor  to  be  a  member. 

The  platform  adopted  by  the  Democratic  party  at  Rochester, 
under  the  guidance  and  control  of  that  distinguished  statesman 
the  Honorable  "Fingy"  Connors  also  denounced  "government 
by  commission"  and  alluded  to  the  New  York  pubUc  service 
commissions  as  "woeful  failures." 

At  first  sight  it  might  seem  as  if  these  commissions,  being 
"the  extreme  of  futility"  and  such  "woeful  failures,"  might 
have  been  secure  from  attack  until  more  dangerous  evils  had 
been  abolished;  but,  jesting  aside,  the  phrase  "government  by 
commission"  and  an  expression  of  opposition  thereto  has  been 
made  by  some  eminent  men  whose  utterances  may  not  be  set 
aside  as  Ughtly  as  those  of  Mr.  Connors'  platform  committee. 
If  the  phrase  is  but  a  phrase,  what  does  it  mean? 

In  that  most  deUghtful  nursery  classic  for  young  and  old, 
"Through  the  Looking  Glass  and  What  AUce  Foimd  There," 
Humpty  Dumpty  remarks,  "When  I  use  a  word  it  means  just 
what  I  choose  it  to  mean;  neither  more  nor  less."  This  system 
is  sometimes  followed  outside  the  Looking  Glass ;  and  while  con- 
venient for  a  speaker  is  apt  to  be  a  trifle  confusing  to  hearers. 
So  whatever  meaning  "government  by  commission"  may  have 
to  the  speaker  it  is  well  to  have  it  thoroughly  explained  before 
we  can  be  sure  if  we  understand. 

The  truth  is,  there  are  many  forms  of  government  by  com- 
mission; and  some  are  good  and  some  are  bad.  The  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  is  a  commission  to  hear  and  determine 
final  appeals  and  decide  (if  they  can)  upon  the  meaning  of  the 
constitution;  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  is  a  body 
which,  violently  opposed  at  its  inception,  has  become  a  neces- 
sary means  of  controlling  our  great  interstate  railway  corporations ; 
there  are  various  commissions  in  the  several  states  which  cover 
a  variety  of  activities — ^railroad,  gas,electricity,  prison,  and  high- 
way commissions;  our  boards  of  education  are  commissions 
specially  charged  with  the  interests  of  the  schools;  there  are  in 
most  cities  commissions  for  the  police,  fire,  charities  and  other 
mimicipal  departments.  All  these  are  examples  of  "government 
by  commission;"  and  there  are  many  others. 


THOMAS  M.  OSBORNE 


271 


Speaking  personally  and  after  some  experience  with  municipal 
commissions,  it  has  occurred  to  me  that  in  general  the  difference 

between  a  commission  that  is  worth  while  and 
Municipal  one  the  usefulness  of  which  may  be  questioned 

Commissions  depends  perhaps  on  the  fact  whether  their 
Inadequate         duties  are  judicial  or  administrative.    I  believe 

that  most  municipal  commissions  are  very 
inadequate  means  of  getting  at  results.  I  refer  to  the  police 
and  fire  commissions,  or  the  commission  of  public  works  in  a 
city  the  size  of  that  in  which  I  was  once  a  part  of  the  administra- 
tive government.  I  found  in  my  own  experience  that  a  com- 
mission of  three  to  manage  the  fire  department  was  by  no  means 
as  efficient  as  a  single  individual.  One  does  not  have  to  go 
behind  one's  business  experience  to  understand  the  reason  for 
that.  An  individual  who  has  an  office  to  administer,  who  has 
certain  work  to  perform,  takes  pride  in  having  that  work  done 
well,  because  its  well-doing  reflects  credit  upon  him  personally; 
and  you  could  not  possibly  conduct  a  great  manufacturing 
business  by  having  a  commission  to  undertake  the  work  of  the 
superintending  officer.  You  could  not  have  a  commission  to 
manage  each  department  as  a  foreman  manages  it ;  and  the  best 
results  are  obtained  when  you  focus  the  responsibility  upon 
single  individuals,  making  them  again  responsible  to  the  head 
of  the  concern.  And  so  far  as  the  city  I  have  referred  to — 
Auburn — is  concerned  we  made  extensive  changes  in  our  charter 
by  which  we  aboUshed  the  old  city  commissions  and  substituted 
individuals  appointed  by  the  mayor  and  removable  by  him; 
and  the  results  have  been  far  better  for  the  city. 

How  absurd  those  city  commissions  often  are  I  have  found 
in  my  course  of  travels  through  New  York  State.  I  struck  one 
small  municipality  that  had  an  elaborate  police  commission 
of  three.  I  asked  how  many  men  there  were  on  the  force,  and 
they  told  me  there  were  four  In  another  city  I  went  to,  they 
had  a  commission  of  four  on  the  board  of  public  works;  and 
with  the  common  notion  that  bipartisanship  is  nonpartisanship 
they  called  it  a  nonpartisan  commission,  two  of  the  commis- 
sioners being  Republican  and  two  Democratic;  and  in  order  to 
be  fair,  the  Republican  party  having  two  wings,  they  appointed 


272         NEW  YORK  PUBLIC  SERVICE  COMMISSIONS 


one  from  one  wing  and  the  other  from  the  other;  ditto  with 
the  Democrats.  So  that  you  had  two  Democrats  fighting 
between  themselves  and  two  Republicans  fighting  between 
themselves;  and  whenever  any  party  issue  came  up  you  had 
the  Democrats  against  the  Republicans.  At  the  time  I  speak 
of  the  whole  street  department  had  been  held  up  for  several 
months  and  the  city  was  rent  in  twain  over  the  immensely  impor- 
tant question  as  to  the  appointment  of  an  additional  street- 
sweeper. 

I  am  opposed  to  such  municipal  commissions.  We  have  in  New 
York  State  various  state  com.missions  — some  of  them  appointed 
because  our  state  officers  have  not  been  the  efficient  officers 
that  they  should  be.  According  to  our  present  system  of  elec- 
tion of  minor  state  officials,  when  it  comes  to  nominating  them 
in  state  conventions  they  are  parceled  out  to  the  different 
local  bosses  in  different  parts  of  the  state.  The  Albany  boss 
gets  one,  the  Buffalo  boss  gets  another,  the  Westchester  boss 
gets  a  third,  and  so  on;  they  placate  these  various  bosses  around 
the  state  by  giving  each  of  them  the  nomination  of  a  minor 
state  official.  The  result  is  just  what  one  would  expect.  I 
have  never  met  anybody  in  New  York  State  who  could  remem- 
ber the  name  of  one  of  these  state  officials,  with  some  few  honor- 
able exceptions,  five  years  after  he  retired  from  office;  and  some 
of  them  have  been  so  useless  and  the  departments  have  been 
run  so  badly  that  the  legislature  has  in  its  wisdom  decided  to 
appoint  a  commission  to  do  the  work  of  the  state  official. 

I  am  now  speaking  particularly  of  the  highway  commission 
which  has  lately  come  into  existence  in  New  York  State.  If  we 
had  an  intelligent  and  civihzed  way  of  electing  our  state  engi- 
neer we  should  not  have  to  have  any  highway  commission ;  and 
it  is  folly  when  you  look  upon  it  in  the  practical  sense,  to  be 
appointing  commissions  to  do  the  work  of 
The  Folly  of  men  elected  to  certain  offices  to  do  that  very 
Multiplying  work.  And  when  we  have  been  so  foolish  as  to 
Elective  have  a  system  which  is  unworkable  in  procuring 

Offices  practical  results,  why  we  sometimes  try  to  get  at 

it  in  some  round-about  way.  Of  course  it  would 
be  better  to  go  at  it  directly;  but  I  presume  that  if  anyone 


THOMAS  M.  OSBORNE 


273 


should  suggest  that  our  state  officials  might  better  be  appointed 
by  the  governor,  so  that  they  would  form  a  sort  of  a  cabinet  like 
that  of  the  president  of  the  United  States,  he  would  be  ruled 
out  of  court  at  once;  it  would  be  denied  that  he  was  a  demo- 
crat. 

Among  the  commissions  that  have  seemed  to  me  wise  and 
calculated  to  work  for  the  public  benefit  are  the  pubUc  service 
commissions  of  New  York  State.  We  have,  as  you  know,  two, — 
one  for  the  city  of  New  York  and  one  for  all  the  rest  of  the  state ; — - 
the  problems  in  the  great  city  being  very  vast  and  quite  different 
from  those  outside  the  city.  It  has  been  very  well  understood 
for  some  years  past  that  the  problem  of  the  relations  of  our  great 
public  service  corporations  to  the  public  on  one  side  and  the 
state  on  the  other,  formed  a  very  serious  problem — if  not  the 
most  serious  problem  which  faced  us.  It  has  not  been  quite 
so  well  understood,  at  least  among  us  in  New  York,  that  there 
were  only  three  possible  solutions  of  that  problem — only  three 
possible  ways  in  which  we  could  move  forward. 

(1)  We  could  let  things  alone, — to  drift  as  they  may  and 
settle  themselves  if  they  will; 

(2)  We  could  adopt  state  ownership;  or 

(3)  Have  some  form  of  state  regulation  and  control.  When 
you  come  to  analyze  the  question  there  are  no  other  possible 
courses. 

(i)  We  have  tried  letting  things  alone  in  the  past  and  it  has 
resulted  in  an  intolerable  condition  of  things.    Offensive  mon- 

^  opoly  on  the  part  of  corporations;  swindling  by 

_..  irresponsible  and  unscrupulous  promoters ;  finan- 

Alone  ^^^^  innocent  investors;  blackmail  by 

corrupt  legislators  and  politicians  and  practical 
robbery  and  continuing  robbery  of  an  outraged  pubUc  for  the 
benefit  of  the  swindlers  and  blackmailers — these  have  been  the 
too  frequent  results  of  the  "let  alone"  policy.  And  such  things 
do  not  "settle  themselves"  with  justice  to  the  public  or  the  state, 
for  there  are  certain  evils  which  creep  in,  which  cannot  be 
remedied  without  great  suffering.  Take  for  instance  what  is 
known  as  Interborough  Metropolitan  Merger.  Here  is  a  case 
where  certain  financiers  have  engineered  a  combination  with 


274         NEW  YORK  PUBLIC  SERVICE  COMMISSIONS 


enormous  watering  of  stock,  and  unloaded  the  securities  upon 
an  innocent  public  to  a  large  extent.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  one  of  those  who  engineered  the  thing — one  whose  name 
was  very  closely  associated  with  it,  when  he  died  was  found  to 
possess  not  one  single  dollar's  worth  of  stock  in  that  enterprise; 
he  had  disposed  of  all  that  he  possessed .  It  is  impossible  thereafter 
that  justice  should  be  done  to  the  public  in  regard  to  the  street 
railways  in  New  York  without  great  suffering  on  the  part  of  the 
innocent  investors.  It  is  impossible  to  return  to  the  innocent 
investor  a  fair  return  on  his  investment  without  injusticebeing 
done  to  the  public  and  these  are  the  two  horns  of  the  dilemma. 
Some  suffering,  some  injustice  must  be  done  if  we  are  to  remedy 
the  situation;  even  if  we  leave  things  alone.  That  is  what 
makes  the  problem  of  the  first  district  commission  such  a  very 
difficult  one  to  handle. 

(2)  State  ownership  is  a  remedy  which  is  believed  in  by  many 
excellent  and  thoughtful  men;  but  a  majority  of  such  are  not 
yet  convinced  of  its  desirability — at  least  not  until  they  have 
tried  another  method.  State  ownership  has  two  obvious  and 
great  disadvantages.  First,  it  would  require  an  enormous 
investment  of  public  funds  for  utilities  which  are  already  pro- 
vided for  the  pubUc  service  by  private  capital;  and  second,  it 
would  require  a  large  force  of  pubUc  servants  of  a  kind  our 
democracy  has  not  yet  learned  to  manage  in  a  businesslike  way, 
or  even  in  any  considerable  number  to  produce. 

(3)  By  state  regulation  and  control  we  can  secure  all  the 
advantages  of  public  ownership   without  its  disadvantages. 

Leaving  the  financial  ownership  and  manage- 
State  ment  of  the  pubUc  utilities  in  the  hands  of  pri- 

Regulation         vate  persons,  but  forcing  those  persons  to 

recognize  their  obligations  toward  the  public 
and  the  state  (because  their  investment  rests  upon  a  practical 
monopoly  granted  by  the  state),  we  can  enforce  justice  to  all 
three  parties  in  interest — make  the  investments  more  stable 
and  conservative,  while  securing  to  the  public  its  rights  and  at 
the  same  time  guarding  the  future  interests  of  the  state. 

There  has  been  such  general  change  within  a  generation  or  two 
in  the  whole  social  structure — ^in  social  conditions,  that  we  very 


THOMAS  M.  OSBORNE 


275 


often  fail  to  recognize  the  alteration  in  the  relations  between 
these  great  public  service  corporations  and  the  public  and  the 
state.  If  we  go  back  to  the  old  railroad  charters  granted  by 
the  State  of  New  York,  back  in  the  twenties,  we  come  face  to  face 
with  conditions  that  are  very  difficult  for  us  now  to  realize ;  yet 
if  we  want  to  understand  the  problem  involved  in  these  great 
public  service  corporations  we  ought  to  go  back,  because  origin- 
ally these  great  pubUc  service  corporations  were  not  monopolies 
as  they  are  today;  they  were  something  quite  different. 

We  find,  running  through  the  old  charters  in  New  York  two 
rather  amusing  and  interesting  ideas;  first,  that  these  new  rail- 
roads must  not  enter  into  practical  competition  with  the  Erie 
Canal.  The  Erie  Canal  was  owned  by  the  State;  and  the  State 
did  not  propose  to  have  any  unseemly  competition. 

For  instance  the  Utica  &  Schenectady  charter  granted  in  1844 
provides  that 

the  company  shall  make  returns  at  such  periods  and  in  such 
manner  as  may  be  directed  by  the  commissioners  of  the  canal 
board,  of  all  the  goods,  chattels  and  other  property  transported 
upon  said  railroad,  and  shall  pay  to  the  commissioners  of  the 
canal  office  the  same  tolls  per  mile  on  all  the  goods,  chattels  and 
other  property  so  transported,  as  would  have  been  paid  on  them 
had  they  been  transported  on  the  Erie  Canal. 

In  other  words,  the  railroad  was  to  pay  the  regular  canal 
charges  to  the  canal  board.    Anything  above  that  of  course  was 
their  property. 

The  Old  Not  only  that,  but  the  Utica  &  Schenectady 

Charters  Railroad  was  authorized  to  take  and  transport 

"all  goods,  chattels  and  other  property  that  may 
be  offered  for  transportation  during  this  suspension  of  naviga- 
tion in  each  year  only."  They  were  not  to  be  allowed  to 
transport  any  goods  while  the  season  was  open  and  the  canal 
was  running. 

This  idea  runs  all  through  these  early  charters.  Then  here  is 
another  amusing  line  of  provisions.  The  Ithaca  &  Oswego  Rail- 
road, chartered  in  1828,  provided: 

From  all  persons  using  and  traveling  upon  said  rail  for  every 
ton  weight  of  goods,  property,  loading  or  freight  of  any  descrip- 
tion three  cents  per  mile  for  every  mile  the  same  shall  pass  over 
the  said  railroad,  a  ratable  proportion  for  any  greater  or  less 


276         NEW  YORK  PUBLIC  SERVICE  COMMISSIONS 


quantity.  For  every  pleasure  carriage  or  carriage  used  for  the 
conveyance  of  passengers,  three  cents  per  raile  in  addition  to 
the  toll  by  weight  upon  the  loading. 

All  persons  paying  the  toll  aforesaid  may  with  suitable  and 
proper  carriages,  use]  and  travel  upon  said  railroad,  subject  to 
such  rules  and  regulations  as  the  said  corporation  are  authorized 
to  make. 

It  was  evidently  anticipated  that  the  railroad  would  be  in 
the  nature  of  a  highway  upon  which  the  people  might  run  their 
own  private  carriages;  just  as  they  ran  their  own  private  car- 
riages upon  the  turnpike.  In  other  words,  in  the  beginning  the 
railroad  was  a  competitor  of  the  tiunpike  and  the  canal.  It 
was  not  in  any  sense  a  monopoly,  it  was  a  competitor— a  new 
form  of  competitor  to  an  existing  system. 

Here  is  a  provision  of  the  Salina  &  Port  Watson  Railroad 
Company  chartered  in  1829.  It  "was  authorized  to  demand 
and  receive  from  all  persons  using  or  travelling  upon  such  rail- 
road, except  those  travelling  on  foot,  such  toll,  etc." 

Apparently  that  looked  forward  to  the  days  of  tramps;  but 
they  certainly  never  looked  forward  to  the  transportation  they 
have  now.    Then  again  we  have  this  provision: 

All  persons  paying  the  toll  aforesaid,  may,  with  suitable 
carriages,  use  and  travel  upon  the  said  railroad,  subject  to  such 
lilies  and  regulations  as  the  said  corporation  by  this  act  is 
authorized  to  make. 

All  this  brings  before  us  forcibly  the  great  difference  in  the 
manner  of  looking  at  these  public  service  corporations.  When 
we  examine  into  the  other  utilities  subject  to  the  New  York 
PubUc  Service  Commission  law,  besides  the  railroads,  we  find 
the  same  interesting  facts  which  we  are  so  apt  to  forget.  When 
trolleys  came  into  use  they  formed  a  new  sort  of  competition 

against  the  more  expensive  cab  companies. 
Public  Con-  The  interurban  trolleys  were  competitors  of  the 
venience  and  railroads.  When  gas  came  into  use,  it  was  only 
Necessity  a  new  fangled  Ught  offering  itself  in  competition 

with  candles  and  lamps.  Electric  light  when 
it  appeared  in  its  turn  was  a  competitor  of  gas.  Now,  be- 
ginning as  a  new  form  of  competition,  these  public  utilities 


THOMAS  M.  OSBORNE 


277 


rapidly,  many  of  them  (less  rapidly  of  course  in  the  case  of 
the  railroads),  became  a  public  convenience,  and  from  a  public 
convenience  they  became  a  public  necessity,  because  the  social 
structure  grew  up  around  them  and  made  such  use  of  them 
that  it  became  absolutely  dependent  upon  them;  and  after  they 
became  an  absolute  pubhc  necessity  and  in  the  case  of  railroads 
where  not  only  the  commercial  prosperity  but  even  the  very 
lives  of  large  communities  depend  upon  them,  then  these  public 
utilities  became  practical  monopolies;  for  wherever  a  public 
utility  has  a  community  in  its  grasp  it  becomes  a  monopoly. 
We  have  hesitated  to  recognize  them  as  such;  and  have  tried 
to  regulate  them  by  competition.  We  have  chartered  rival 
railroads.  We  have  chartered  rival  gas  companies  and  electric 
companies.  But  free  and  open  competition  is  not  possible  in 
these  public  utilities,  and  we  are  forced  back  to  the  plain  propo- 
sition that  they  are  monopolies  and  must  be  regulated  as  such. 
That  being  conceded  we  are  justified  in  demanding  state  regula- 
tion; and  there  is  no  form  of  state  regulation  that  has  yet  been 
devised  that  is  as  good  and  efficient  as  a  commission, — such  as 
that  in  Wisconsin  has  turned  out  to  be,  and  such  as  we  hope 
these  in  New  York  are  turning  out  to  be. 

The  New  York  law  in  many  respects  is  different  from  that  of 
Wisconsin.    I  will  run  over  it  very  briefly.    It  has  five  articles. 

I.  By  article  one  the  State  is  divided  into  two  districts,  with 
a  separate  and  independent  commission  for  each.  The  first 
district  includes  what  is  known  as  Greater  New  York — the 
four  counties  of  New  York,  Kings,  Queens  and  Richmond  (or 
New  York  City,  Brooklyn,  Long  Island  City  and  Staten  Island) — 
and  the  second  includes  all  other  counties  in  the  state.  This 
division,  suggested  by  the  great  difference  in  character  of  the 
problems  in  the  two  districts,  has  been  already  justified  by 
experience. 

The  ten  commissioners,  five  for  each  district,  are  appointed 
by  the  governor  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
The  New  York    senate,  but  removable  by  the  governor  alone. 
Law  They  must  have  no  official  relation  to  any  cor- 

poration subject  to  the  provisions  of  the  act, 
nor  own  stocks  or  bonds  therein.    Neither  shall  they  ask  the 


278         NEW  YORK  PUBLIC  SERVICE  COMMISSIONS 

appointment  of  any  person  to  office  by  such  corporation  or 
receive  from  them  any  pass  or  reduction  in  fare. 

Each  commission  appoints  its  own  counsel,  secretary  and 
minor  employees,  and  each  single  commissioner  has  full  power 
to  hold  investigations  and  hearings,  although  an  order  must  be 
approved  by  the  commission  before  it  becomes  operative.  The 
commission  is  not  bound  by  the  technical  rules  of  evidence, 
but  is  free  to  get  at  the  facts  in  the  quickest  and  simplest  way 
possible.  All  witnesses  are  duly  protected  and  the  Commission 
can  force  attendance  and  secure  testimony,  refusal  constituting 
a  misdemeanor. 

There  is  no  such  provision  for  appeal  to  the  courts  as  there  is  in 
"Wisconsin.  There  is  no  review  by  the  courts  of  the  action  of 
the  commission.  You  may  only  appeal  on  the  ground  of  viola- 
tion of  constitutional  rights,  or  lack  of  power  in  the  commission. 

2.  Article  two  prescribes  the  duties  of  common  carriers  which 
term  includes,  according  to  the  wording  of  the  act,  "all  railroad 
corporations,  street-railroad  corporations,  express  companies, 
car  companies,  sleeping-car  companies,  freight  companies,  freight- 
line  companies  and  all  persons  and  associations  of  persons, 
whether  incorporated  or  not  operating  such  agencies  for  public 
use  in  the  conveyance  of  persons  or  property." 

Common  carriers  shall  furnish  to  the  public  "such  service 
and  facilities  as  shall  be  safe  and  adequate  and  in  all  respects 
just  and  reasonable;"  and  "all  charges  made  or  demanded  shall 
be  just  and  reasonable  and  not  more  than  allowed  by  law  or  by 
order  of  the  commission. "  They  shall  provide  proper  switch 
and  side-track  connections;  and  shall  file  and  keep  open  for 
"public  inspection  schedules  showing  the  rates  of  fare  and 
charges  for  the  transportation  of  passengers  and  property." 

There  shall  be  no  special  rate,  rebate  or  unjust  discrimination 
of  any  kind;  no  "free  ticket,  free  pass  or  free  transportation  of 
passengers  or  property,"  exception  being  made  of  officers  of 
the  railway  and  certain  other  specified  individuals.  But  this 
provision  is  not  to  prevent  the  issuing  of  mileage  or  commutation 
tickets. 

[I  would  say  that  the  conscience  of  some  of  our  railroads  was 
so  tender  that  our  commission  had  an  application  for  a  ruling, 


THOMAS  M.  OSBORNE 


279 


not  long  ago,  to  know  whether  the  directors  of  one  of  our  large 
railroads  were  entitled  to  free  passes.  Those  of  you  who  know 
New  York  State  can  realize  what  a  change  of  heart  that  betok- 
ened.] 

There  must  be  sufficient  and  suitable  cars  for  freight  in  car- 
load lots;  sufficient  cars  and  motive  power  on  railroads  and 
street  railroads  to  meet  all  requirements  for  the  transportation 
of  passengers  and  property,  the  commission  being  expressly 
given  power  to  make  suitable  regulations  for  the  furnishing  of 
freight  cars  and  for  demurrage  charges. 

3.  Article  three  continues  the  provisions  relating  to  common 
carriers,  dealing  especially  with  the  powers  of 
Powers  of  the  the  commission  for  carrying  the  provisions  of 
Commission  article  two  into  effect.  Power  is  given  to  the 
commission : 

(a)  To  examine  into  the  general  condition,  capitalization, 
franchises  and  management  of  all  common  carriers; 

(b)  To  examine  all  books,  contracts,  records,  docimients  and 
papers  and  to  compel  their  production; 

(c)  To  conduct  hearings  and  take  testimony  on  any  proposed 
change  of  law  when  requested  to  do  so  by  the  legislature,  by  the 
senate  or  assembly  committee  on  railroads,  or  by  the  governor. 

[The  charge  is  made,  with  what  truth  I  am  not  able  to  affirm, 
never  having  been  connected  with  the  legislature,  that  certain 
actions  of  some  of  our  legislators  in  the  past  have  been  dictated 
either  by  a  desire  to  gratify  the  public  service  corporations,  or 
by  a  desire  to  annoy  them  by  introducing  "strike  bills."  This 
provision  of  the  law  is  an  interesting  one  in  that  connection. 
If  one  of  the  so-called  "strike  bills"  should  ever  pass  a  legisla- 
ture and  reach  the  governor,  the  governor  is  empowered  to  refer 
it  to  the  public  service  commission;  and  the  public  service 
commission  can  take  testimony  and  make  an  exhaustive  exam- 
ination into  the  source  of  that  bill,  the  reasons  for  its  introduc- 
tion and  so  forth  —  an  examination  which  might  possibly  be 
embarrassing  to  some  of  our  legislators.  It  is  barely  possible 
that  this  provision  of  the  law  may  have  been  one  cause  of  the 
diminishing  of  such  bills  which  it  has  been  stated  was  a  fact  at 
the  last  session  of  the  New  York  legislature.] 


28o         NEW  YORK  PUBLIC  SERVICE  COMMISSIONS 


The  commission  has  also  the  power: 

(d)  To  prescribe  the  form  of  annual  reports; 

(e)  To  investigate  accidents; 

(f)  To  investigate  as  to  any  act  done,  or  omitted  to  be  done 
in  violation  of  law  or  of  any.  order  of  the  commission ; 

(g)  To  fix  rates  and  service; 

(h)  To  order  repairs,  improvements  or  changes  in  tracks, 
switches,  terminals,  motive  power  or  any  other  property  or 
device  in  order  to  secure  adequate  service; 

(i)  To  order  changes  in  time  scheduled  by  increasing  the 
number  of  trains,  cars  or  motive  power,  or  by  changes  in  the 
time  of  starting  its  trains  or  cars. 

(j)  To  establish  a  uniform  system  of  accounts  and  prescribe 
the  manner  in  which  they  shall  be  kept. 

The  approval  of  the  commission  is  necessary  for  various 
things.    Without  it: 

(a)  No  construction  of  a  railroad  or  street  railroad  or  exten- 
sion of  existing  lines  shall  be  begun; 

(c)  No  railroad  or  street  railroad  or  other  stock  corporation 
shall  purchase  or  hold  any  capital  stock  for  any  other  road; 

(d)  No  stocks,  bonds,  notes  or  other  evidence  of  indebtedness 
(except  notes  payable  within  twelve  months)  shall  be  issued; 

[Here  is  one  of  the  best  things  in  the  law — the  necessity 
of  getting  the  approval  of  the  commission  before  issuing  stock 
and  bonds — and  then  only  for  certain  definite  purposes.  It 
ought  to  prevent  greatly  if  not  entirely  the  stock-watering  of 
which  our  Public  Service  Corporations  have  been  guilty  in  the 
past.] 

(e)  No  merger  or  consolidation  of  existing  companies  shall 
be  made;  and  in  case  such  merger  is  approved  it  is  provided  that 
the  capital  stock  of  the  merger  shall  not  exceed  the  sum  at  par 
of  the  capital  stock  of  the  corporations  so  consolidated,  or  any 
additional  sum  paid  in  cash. 

The  penalties  for  failure  to  comply  with  an  order  of  the  com- 
mission are  drastic.  Each  day's  violation  constitutes  a  separate 
offense,  and  for  each  offense  the  penalty  is  $5000  if  by  a  common 
carrier,  $1000  if  by  other  than  a  common  carrier.  Every  indi- 
vidual who  aids  or  abets  any  violation  of  an  order  of  the  com- 


THOMAS  M.  OSBORNE 


281 


mission  or  who  fails  to  obey  or  aids  or  abets  any  corporation  in 
its  failure  to  obey  is  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor. 

[Not  only  can  the  offending  corporation  be  fined,  but  its 
officers  can  be  sent  to  jail.] 

In  case  the  commission  believes  that  a  common  carrier  is  vio- 
lating the  law  or  an  order  of  the  commission,  it  may  commence 
an  action  to  secure  relief  by  way  of  mandamus  or  injunction  and 
the  court  shall  require  an  answer  within  20  days. 

4.  Article  four  applies  practically  similar  provisions  to  the 
gas  and  electric  companies.    It  also  provides  for  inspection  of 

all  gas  and  electric  meters.  The  commission 
Gas  and  has  the  right  to  fix  rates  upon  proper  complaints 

Electric  as  to  quality  or  price,  not  only  of  that  supplied 

Companies         by  private  persons  and  corporations,  but  of 

that  supplied  by  municipal  lighting  plants  as 
well;  it  has  power  to  examine  the  books  and  affairs  of  the 
producers,  to  approve  of  all  incorporations  and  franchises  and 
of  all  stocks,  bonds  and  other  indebtedness;  in  short,  this  article 
is  similar  in  aim  to  the  preceding,  although  having  been  drafted 
with  less  success  it  is  in  places  somewhat  obscure.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  amendments  to  the  law  will  soon  remedy  these  defects. 

[I  would  say  in  this  connection  that  we  have  not  the  excellent 
provision  of  the  Wisconsin  law — the  provision  forbidding  dis- 
crimination in  rates  which  is  in  the  railroad  section  of  our  law, 
but  does  not  exist  in  the  lighting  section  of  the  law.  It  was 
presumably  overlooked  because  of  the  law  being  somewhat 
hastily  drafted.  It  is  an  extraordinarily  successful  law,  consider- 
ing how  rapid  was  its  preparation ;  but  they  took  the  lighting  act 
passed  the  year  before — the  gas  and  electricity  act,  and  put 
that  almost  bodily  into  the  new  law;  so  that  many  of  the 
points  where  the  old  law  failed  to  be  effective  are  also  ineffective 
in  our  present  act.] 

5.  In  article  five  the  act  comes  to  an  end  with  the  abolition 
of  the  former  railroad,  gas  and  electricity,  and  New  York  rapid 
transit  commissions,  and  the  state  inspectors  of  gas  meters; 
followed  by  the  necessary  provisions  for  the  transfer  of  records, 
the  continuance  of  pending  actions  and  proceedings  and  the 
necessary  appropriations. 


2  82         NEW  YORK  PUBLIC  SERVICE  COMMISSIONS 


But  there  has  not  been  mentioned  the  most  vital  and  far-reach- 
ing clause  of  the  bill.    In  sections  55  and  69  occurs  the  following: 
"The  commission  shall  have  no  power  to  authorize  the  capital- 
ization of  any  franchise  or  the  right  to  own,  operate  or  enjoy 

any  franchise  whatever  in  excess  of  the  amount 
Capitalization     (exclusive  of  any  tax  or  annual  charge)  actually 

paid  to  the  State  or  to  a  poUtical  sub-division 
thereof  as  the  consideration  for  the  grant  of  such  franchise  or 
right."  In  other  words,  the  law  decrees  that  hereafter  the 
grant  given  by  state  or  municipality  shall  not  be  treated  as 
a  private  asset  of  the  corporation,  and  its  value  represented  in 
stock;  but  that  the  value  of  the  franchise  and  the  increment 
thereof  shall  remain  forever  the  property  of  the  state.  This 
to  my  mind  is  the  kernel  of  the  whole  law. 

Now  this  act  has  been  called  "radical,"  it  has  been  called 
socialistic.  It  is  radical.  It  is  more  than  radical — it  is  revolution- 
ary. It  revolutionizes  the  whole  relation  between  our  pubHc 
service  corporations  to  the  pubUc  on  one  side  and  the  state  on  the 
other.  They  needed  to  be  revoluted,  so  to  speak.  But  whether 
it  is  socialistic  or  not  I  leave  it  to  you  to  decide.  I  am  not  sure 
I  know  what  socialism  means.  I  find  that  "sociaHsm"  is  used 
currently  in  this  sense;  if  you  propose  that  the  state  shall  do 
something  I  don't  want  it  to  do  I  call  you  a  "socialist."  It 
is  a  very  convenient  term  of  reproach;  and  just  what  it  means 
I  am  not  prepared  to  state. 

Now,  as  to  the  result  of  the  New  York  law,  I  can  say  briefly 
that  in  most  respects  the  results  have  been  such  as  those  set 

forth  by  Dr.  Meyer  as  the  results  in  Wisconsin. 
Results  It  has  taken  our  public  utilities  out  of  politics; 

and  that  excellent  result  will  last  just  so  long 
as  the  commission  is  appointed  without  regard  to  politics. 
Governor  Hughes  in  his  appointments  not  only  did  not  appoint 
for  poUtical  reasons,  but  he  deUberately  appointed  for  nonpoliti- 
cal  reasons. 

The  two  commissions  therefore  represent  no  party.  There 
are  both  Democrats  and  Republicans  upon  them,  and  I  think 
they  may  be  said  to  come  as  near  being  nonpartisan  bodies  as 
it  is  possible  to  come. 


THOMAS  M.  OSBORNE 


283 


I  think  it  may  also  be  said  that  the  commissions  have  been 
of  great  service  to  the  pubHc  service  corporations,  along  the 
lines  Dr.  Meyer  has  mentioned,  in  making  them  see  very  often 
the  poor  results  of  their  own  management ;  for  in  some  cases  the 
lack  of  foresight,  the  lack  of  good  management  is  something 
quite  extraordinary.  Here  is  a  fair  sample:  A  group  of  men 
connected  with  the  railroads  who  had  spent  all  their  lives  in 
the  service  of  the  railroads  in  the  freight  departments  met  recently 
to  draft  a  rule  for  the  receipt  of  freight  in  less  than  carload  lots. 
They  drafted  the  rule.  They  formulated  it  and  put  it  into  opera- 
tion. And  according  to  that  rule,  if  you  had  wanted  to  ship  me 
one  thousand  of  bricks  you  would  have  had  to  inscribe  my 
name  in  some  form  or  other  on  every  one  of  those  bricks. 
Now,  that  seems  like  a  trifling  circumstance.  It  was  of  course  a 
fooUsh  thing  to  do,  but  the  fact  that  it  could  be  done  by  men 
who  had  spent  their  whole  lives  in  attacking  that  particular  part 
of  the  railroad  problem  seemed  to  me  one  of  the  most  discourag- 
ing things  that  we  could  have  had  come  before  our  commission. 
The  rule  was  sent  back  twice  to  that  group  of  men  to  put  in 
sensible  form,  one  that  would  be  fair  to  the  shipper  as  well  as 
to  the  railroad;  and  we  finally  had  to  sit  down  and  draft  the  new 
rule  ourselves.  It  does  seem  as  if  the  time  of  the  public  service 
commission  ought  not  to  be  taken  up  by  doing  work  of  that  kind. 
And  yet  the  fact  that  we  had  to  do  it  in  this  particular  instance 
points  to  the  fact  that  the  management  of  these  great  pubUc 
utilities  is  not  always  as  efficient,  as  careful,  as  businesslike 
as  it  should  be ;  and  it  will  not  hurt  that  management  to  have 
its  acts  passed  in  review  by  a  competent  court. 

Among  the  accomplishments  of  the  commission — I  shall  not 
go  into  detail — can  be  said  to  be  these,  in  addition  to  the  general 
accomphshments  that  Dr.  Meyer  has  touched  upon: 

1.  The  authorization  of  new  corporations.  It  has  been  said 
that  the  New  York  law  has  absolutely  killed 
What  the  the  extension  of  business.    In  answer  it  may 

Commissions  be  said  that  the  upstate  commisssion  has  author- 
Have  Done  ized  twenty  new  companies  in  the  fifteen  months 
from  July  i  to  October  i ;  three  railroads  and 
seventeen  gas  and  electric  companies,  besides  nine  extensions 
of  old  companies. 


284         NEW  YORK  PUBLIC  SERVICE  COMMISSIONS 


2.  It  has  authorized  new  capital.  Not  along  ago  it  was  stated 
by  a  gentleman  prominently  connected  with  some  of  the  public 
utilities  in  New  York  that  no  new  capital  was  going  into  public 
utilities  on  account  of  the  passage  of  the  law  and  the  drastic 
action  of  the  commissions.  Our  commission  has  authorized 
the  issue  of  one  hundred  and  six  million  dollars  of  new  securities 
within  the  fifteen  months — and  that  means  honest  capitaliza- 
tion. In  face  of  the  hard  times  which  the  country  has  been 
passing  through  I  think  that  it  not  so  bad. 

3.  AboUtion  of  railroad  rate  discrimination.  There  have  long 
been  bitter  complaints  of  discrimination  between  individuals. 
Now  every  road  has  to  file  its  tariff  or  scale  of  charges  and  every 
shipper  can  find  out  just  what  the  rate  is. 

4.  AboUtion  of  rebates.  There  can  be  no  real  uniformity 
of  rate  if  rebates  are  permitted.  By  a  uniform  system  of  ac- 
counts rebates  can  now  be  detected;  and  it  is  believed  that  the 
practice  has  been  effectually  stopped. 

5.  Improvement  in  freight  service.  A  great  improvement 
in  freight  service  has  taken  place.  This  has  been  accomplished 
by  insisting  upon  better  management  at  the  Buffalo,  Rochester 
and  other  great  freight-yards  where  congestion  occurs.  The 
condition  of  the  yard  at  Buffalo  was  such  that  it  had  become 
known  as  the  graveyard;  and  the  manufacturing  business  with 
which  I  was  formerly  connected  often  had  to  send  a  man  to 
Buffalo  to  look  after  the  delay  of  cars  in  that  yard,  where  they 
would  sometimes  he  for  weeks  if  not  months. 

6.  Reduction  of  rates.  Not  only  in  many  individual  cases 
but  along  whole  sections  of  railroads,  as  in  the  case  of  points  on 
the  Rome,  Watertown  &  Ogdensburg. 

7.  Improvement  in  passenger  service.  A  great  improvement 
has  been  made  in  the  matter  of  train  delays,  as  must  be  evident 
to  all  travelers.  I  think  the  proportion  of  trains  on  time  has 
increased  from  sixty  per  cent  to  about  eighty.  There  is  still 
room  for  improvement. 

8.  Trains  taken  off  have  been  restored.  In  one  case  a  train 
was  taken  off  which  had  been  running  for  thirty  years.  There 
was  another  case  of  a  train  which  started  from  a  small  country 
town  southwest  of  the  city  of  Geneva  and  ran  to  that  city, 


THOMAS  M.  OSBORNE  285 

which  formerly  started  at  a  certain  hour  of  the  morning,  mak- 
ing three  different  connections  before  reaching  Geneva.  For 
some  reason  best  known  to  itself  (the  commission  never  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  hold  of  the  reason) ,  the  railroad  chose  to  have 
that  train  start  half  an  hour  later,  so  that  it  just  missed  all 
three  connections.  Application  was  made  to  the  commission 
and  the  train  was  promptly  restored  to  its  former  time. 

9.  Stops  have  been  ordered  for  the  convenience  of  various 
localities. 

ID.  Repayment  of  excessive  or  illegal  charges.  I  would  say 
this  was  a  fruitful  source  of  complaint.  A  certain  shipper  was 
charged  more  than  the  proper  rate  through  ignorance  of  the 
local  agent;  and  it  took  him  the  greater  part  of  his  remaining 
existence  to  get  a  repayment  from  the  railroad  company.  The 
commission  has  established  a  system  of  reparation  for  excessive 
charges,  by  which  claims  for  overcharges  against  the  railroad 
are  settled,  and  settled  promptly. 

11.  Elimination  of  grade  crossings.  The  advent  of  the  auto- 
mobile has  made  this  subject  one  of  increasing  importance. 
The  commission  has  moved  in  this  matter  as  fast  as  the  appropria- 
tion made  by  the  legislature  will  allow;  and  many  dangerous 
crossings  are  being  replaced  by  new  and  safe  ones. 

The  commission  is  an  effective  court  for  the  determination  of 
the  manner  of  all  new  highway  crossings. 

12.  The  inspection  of  railroad  lines.  A  careful  inspection  by 
competent  experts  is  made  of  all  lines  or  railroads  with  a  view 
to  securing  improved  operation  and  epecially  safety  for  pas- 
sengers and  employees.  Careful  and  minute  inspection  of  all 
locomotive  engines  and  cars. 

13.  Inspection  of  trolley  railroad  lines.  A  careful  inspection 
by  competent  experts  of  all  street  and  interurban  trolley  lines, 
similar  to  the  railroad  inspection. 

14.  Trolley  express  companies  refused.  The  commission  has 
declined  to  allow  the  formation  of  an  express  company  for  trolley 
service.  A  company  became  incorporated,  with  a  right  to  do 
an  express  business  not  only  on  half  a  dozen  trolley  lines  center- 
ing in  Syracuse,  which  were  all  more  or  less  owned  by  the  same 
parties,  but  all  over  the  United  States,  and  in  fact  they  didn't 


286         NEW  YORK  PUBLIC  SERVICE  COMMISSIONS 


stop  with  the  United  States.  The  papers  of  incorporation  read 
that  they  could  do  business  "in  the  United  States  and  other- 
wise." (I  suppose  it  meant  "elsewhere.")  They  had  to  come 
to  the  commission  for  the  right  to  do  business  on  the  trolleys; 
and  the  commission  declined  to  allow  the  express  company  to  do 
business — holding  that  it  was  the  proper  function  of  the  road 
itself  to  take  care  of  its  own  business,  without  an  intervening 
corporation  to  extort  additional  charges. 

15.  Investigation  of  accidents.  A  close  and  careful  investi- 
gation of  all  accidents  which  must  under  the  law  be  at  once 
reported  to  the  commission  is  made.  This  may  in  some  cases 
turn  out  to  be  of  very  great  value  in  fixing  the  responsibility  for 
the  great  destruction  of  life  occurring  on  our  railways. 

16.  Inspection  by  gas  companies.  All  meters  tested  and 
inspected.    Tests  of  quality,  service,  etc. 

17.  Inspection  of  electric  companies.  All  new  electric  trans- 
mission lines  inspected.    All  meters  tested  and  inspected. 

18.  Minor  complaints.  A  large  number  of  small  individual 
complaints  have  been  remedied,  covering  a  wide  and  fertile 
field  of  possible  bad  feeling  toward  the  railways. 

Of  course  a  large  number  of  unimportant  complaints  come  to 
us.  One  of  the  most  persistent  was  made  by  a  distinguished 
gentleman  who  lives  just  outside  the  City  of 
Unimportant  New  York,  and  which  he  not  only  wrote  about 
Complaints  individually  to  the  members  of  the  commission 
and  kept  on  writing  to  the  commission,  but 
finally  appealed  to  the  governor.  It  arose  from  the  fact  that 
in  passing  through  the  tunnel,  which  takes  a  few  minutes,  just 
north  of  the  Grand  Central  Station  in  New  York — the  railroad 
employees  instead  of  fighting  all  the  fights  in  the  car  only  Ughted 
half  of  them,  so  that  the  complainant  could  not  see  to  read  very 
well.  There  was  also  an  enterprising  individual  who  com- 
plained that  the  theater  tickets  he  bought  did  not  allow  him 
an  unobstructed  view  of  the  stage;  and  he  wrote  to  the  pubUc 
service  commission  for  relief. 

From  July  i,  1907,  to  October  i,  1908,  the  pubfic  service 
commission  of  the  second  district  has  handled  and  disposed  of 
one  thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety-five  cases,  or  an  average 


THOMAS  M.  OSBORNE 


287 


of  four  and  a  third  cases  for  every  working  day  since  the  com- 
mission went  into  office;  which  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the 
commission  has  not  been  idle,  however  near  "the  extreme  of 
futility"  it  may  have  come. 

The  result  of  the  last  election  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the 
supporters  of  the  public  service  commissions  law  in  New  York 
had  something  to  say;  and  that  was  that  the  law  has  come  to 
stay.  Of  course  a  new  responsibility  is  placed  upon  the  governor ; 
he  has  the  appointment  of  the  commission;  and  having  also  the 
power  of  dismissal  he  has  as  it  were  the  whole  thing  in  his  hands. 
If  the  people  fail  to  elect  good  governors  we  shall  fail  to  have 
good  commissions.  If  we  fail  to  have  good  commissions  we 
shall  not  get  the  good  results  we  ought  to  have  and  which  the 
law  properly  administered  can  give. 

To  my  mind,  as  a  firm  believer  in  democratic  government 
this  is  no  objection  to  the  bill.  It  is  only  an  additional  argu- 
ment for  the  election  of  good  governors. 


The  Public  Utilities  Commissions  of 
Massachusetts 


By  JOSEPH  B.  EASTMAN,  Boston 
Secretary  Public  Franchise  League  of  Massachusetts. 

The  regulation  of  public  service  corporations  by  means  of 
state  commissions  is  a  firmly  established  policy  in  Massachusetts. 
It  has  passed  its  period  of  probation  and  taken  its  place,  in  popu- 
lar thought,  as  a  natural  and  even  inevitable  duty  of  the  State 
government.  It  is  not  a  political  issue  and  has  not  been  for  a 
long  time,  for  the  people  have  grown  up  with  the  commissions, 
know  the  work  which  they  have  done  and  appreciate  its  value. 

The  railroad  commission  began  its  career  almost 
Massachusetts'  forty  years  ago,  in  1869;  the  board  of  gas  and 
Established  electric  Ught  commissioners  dates  back  as  far 
Policy  as  1885.    Neither  of  them  can  be  called  an 

experiment.  On  the  contrary,  this  method  of 
government  has  reached  a  point  in  Massachusetts  where  there 
is  some  justification  for  stepping  in  and  attempting  to  point  out 
its  achievements  and  shortcomings. 

Recent  commissions  in  other  states  have  sprung  into  existence 
fully  developed  and  armed,  under  comprehensive  and  scientific 
laws  drawn  with  great  care  after  a  close  study  of  similar  laws 
and  precedents.  The  Massachusetts  system  of  regulation  was 
not  so  devised.  It  is  rather  the  product  of  gradual  evolution,  a 
structtire  built  up  little  by  little  around  the  nucleus  formed  in 
1869.  In  the  early  days  the  rights  and  duties  of  pubUc-service 
corporations  were  but  vaguely  appreciated;  the  State  was  a 
pioneer  in  a  new  field,  and  it  felt  its  way  along  step  by  step, 
doing,  in  effect,  laboratory  work  by  which  the  whole  country  has 
profited.  As  time  went  on,  new  classes  of  corporations  were 
brought  under  supervision ;  new  laws  were  passed ;  new  powers 

(288) 


JOSEPH  B.  EASTMAN 


289 


devised.  The  result  is  a  mass  of  legislation,  by  no  means  sym- 
metrical in  form,  rather  crude,  perhaps,  in  certain  respects,  but 
still  legislation  which  embodies  a  system  of  effective  regulation 
and  which  contains  at  least  the  germ  of  practically  every  impor- 
tant power  now  exercised  by  the  various  public-service  com- 
missions of  the  United  States,  powers  which  are  not  the  result 
of  theory  alone,  but  of  actual  experience,  and  which  have  stood 
the  test  of  time. 

At  present,  three  different  boards  of  three  members  each 
supervise  the  public-service  corporations  of  Massachusetts.  The 
board  of  railroad  commissioners  has  under  its  control  railroads, 
street  railways,  steamship  lines  and,  within  the  last  two  years, 
express  companies.  The  board  of  gas  and  electric  light  com- 
missioners supervises  gas  and  electric  light  companies;  the 
highway  commission,  telegraph  and  telephone  companies.  The 
powers  and  duties  of  these  three  boards  are  similar  in  important 
respects,  but  differ  rather  widely  in  details.  All  three  must  keep 
informed  as  to  the  condition  and  conduct  of  the  companies 
under  their  supervision,  make  all  necessary  examinations  and 
inqtiiries  and  advise  the  Legislature  if  any  new  legislation  seems 
expedient.  They  must  report  all  violations  of  the  law  to  the 
The  Three         attorney-general,  and  carefully  investigate  seri- 

„        .   .  ous  accidents.    In  every  case,  the  corporations 

Commissions  ^  ,  .  1  m.  1 

and  their  must  keep  their  accounts  m  a  form  prescribed, 

jj^^^^  open  their  books  to  inspection  at  any  time,  sub- 

mit annual,  and  in  some  cases  quarterly,  returns, 
giving  sworn  and  detailed  information  in  regard  to  their  financial 
condition,  management  and  operation,  and  furnish  any  further 
information  that  the  commissions  may  desire.  All  three  boards 
must  give  formal,  public  hearings  upon  any  complaint  as  to 
rates  or  service  which  is  signed  by  the  mayor  of  a  city,  the 
selectmen  of  a  town,  or  even  twenty  patrons  of  the  company 
concerned.  After  such  hearings  and  investigations,  the  rail- 
road and  highway  commissions  may  recommend  any  changes 
that  seem  desirable,  but  the  gas  and  electric  light  commissioners 
may  issue  positive  orders,  enforcible  by  legal  process.  In  no 
case  can  a  public-service  corporation  issue  stock  or  bonds  beyond 
an  amount  which  the  appropriate  commission  certifies  is  reason- 


2  90   PUBLIC  UTILITIES  COMMISSIONS  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 

ably  necessary  for  the  purpose  required.  More  than  that,  no 
stock  can  be  issued  below  par,  nor  can  new  shares  be  offered 
to  stockholders  except  at  a  price  either  fixed  or  at  least  approved 
by  the  commission. 

These  are  the  more  important  general  provisions.  In  addi- 
tion, all  three  boards  have  certain  special  powers  and  duties. 
The  railroad  commission  may  act  upon  its  own  initiative,  in 
cases  where  no  formal  complaint  has  been  made,  and  recom- 
mend any  changes  in  rates  or  improvements  in  equipment  and 
service  which  seem  desirable;  but  no  such  specific  authority 
is  given  either  to  the  gas  and  electric  light  or  to  the  highway 
commission.  In  the  case  of  a  street  railway,  the  railroad  com- 
mission may  actually  order  additional  accommodations  whenever 
such  action  seems  necessary;  with  stringent  penalties  if  the 
order  is  disobeyed.  No  steam  or  electric  railroad  can  be  built 
or  even  extended  unless  this  board  certifies  that  public  con- 
venience and  necessity  so  require.  No  street  railway  can  lay 
its  tracks  until  the  locations  granted  by  the  municipal  authori- 
ties have  met  with  its  approval.  It  may  even  grant  connect- 
ing locations  between  cities  or  towns  against  the  vote  of  the  local 
authorities.  In  addition,  it  has  extensive  and  important  duties 
in  connection  with  the  aboHtion  of  grade  crossings,  and  power 
to  prescribe  signals,  fenders,  switches  and  certain  other  safety 
appUances.  The  board  of  gas  and  electric  light  commissioners 
is  given  special  duties  relative  to  testing'^gas  and  electric  meters 
and  fixing  proper  standards  of  pressure  and  of  light.  More- 
over no  competing  company  can  lay  its  pipes  or  wires  in  any 
city  or  town  unless  this  board  first  grants  permission.  Numer- 
ous other  powers  and  duties  of  minor  importance  might  be 
mentioned. 

These  commissions  are  all  conducted  simply  and  at  small 
expense.  Their  offices  are  plain,  subordinates  are  few,  and 
the  commissioners  themselves  easily  accessible  to  the  pubUc. 
Their  hearings  are  conducted  with  few  formaUties  and  without 
the  aid  of  special  legal  advisers,  for  the  chairmen  are  invariably 
members  of  the  bar.  Only  one  commissioner  receives  a  salary 
as  high  as  $6000  a  year,  and  the  total  annual  expenses  of  the 
three  boards  combined  do  not,  as  a  rule,  amount  to  as  much  as 


JOSEPH  B.  EASTMAN 


$150,000,  including  the  salaries  of  engineers,  inspectors,  account- 
ants and  other  assistants. 

It  is  not  easy  to  review  briefly  the  forty  years  of  this  regulation 
and  do  justice  to  the  subject.    Certain  salient  features  stand 

out,  however.  So  far  as  the  public  is  concerned, 
Results  of  40  the  situation  in  Massachusetts  with  respect  to 
Years  of  public-service  corporations  is  not  at  all  discourag- 

Regulation        ing.    There  have  been  no  gross  scandals  in  this 

field  since  the  Addicks'  gas  invasion,  back  in  the 
eighties.  Such  outrages  as  have  characterized  the  traction  com- 
panies of  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Chicago  and  other  American 
cities  have  been  conspicuous  by  their  absence.  Minor  instances  of 
this  sort  of  thinghave  occurred,  to  be  sure,  but  they  have  usually 
pointed  the  way,  under  the  leadership  of  the  commissions,  to 
new  legislation  making  their  repetition  impossible.  At  the 
present  time  the  corporations  are  in  the  hands  of  men,  of  whom 
many  desire  the  good  will  and  respect  of  the  public  and  strive 
to  earn  it.  Boston,  for  example,  probably  has  as  good  street 
railway,  gas  and  electric  Ught  service,  together  with  as  reason- 
able rates,  as  any  large  city  in  the  country.  In  the  whole  state 
there  are  very  few  instances  of  inflated  capital  among  the  legal 
corporations.  None  of  them  is  gross,  and  those  which  exist 
are  survivals  of  the  period  prior  to  the  passage  of  the  anti-stock 
watering  laws  of  1894.  This  assertion  should  be  somewhat 
qualified,  it  is  true,  by  stating  the  fact  that  the  entire  capital 
stock  of  several  companies  is  held  in  trust  by  certain  anomalous 
voluntary  associations,  which  in  turn  issue  trust  certificates  on 
a  highly  inflated  basis,  which  are  bought  and  sold  in  the  market 
like  shares  of  stock.  So  far,  these  unincorporated  associations 
have  done  little  harm,  since  neither  they  nor  their  pseudo- 
securities  are  recognized  by  the  commissions.  Yet  they  do 
involve  a  danger,  for  the  claims  of  the  "widows  and  orphans" 
who  invest  in  these  inflated  certificates  with  the  acquiescence 
of  the  State  may  prove  embarrassing  in  the  future.  On  the 
whole,  however,  the  day  of  the  adventurer  has  gone  by,  and  in 
general  the  people  are  contented  and  have  no  hard  feeling  against 
most  of  the  corporations. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  corporations,  the  situation  is  also 


2  92     PUBLIC  UTILITIES  COMMISSIONS  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 


quite  endurable.  They  have  been  well  protected  against  destruc- 
tive competition,  while  investors  have  discovered  that  publicity  of 
accounts  and  the  restriction  of  securities  are  in  the  end  decided 
safeguards.  Then,  too,  the  commissions  have  always  taken  a 
conservative  and  reasonable  attitude,  and  have  made  it  a  point 
to  interfere  in  the  management  of  a  company  only  when  the 
public  interests  seemed  to  require  it. 

The  following  quotations  from  the  reports  of  the  railroad 
commission  show  this  attitude  very  clearly: 

It  is  moreover  of  scarcely  less  importance  to  the  community 
than  to  the  body  of  immediate  stockholders  that  every  railroad 
should  be  amply  remunerative.  A  poor,  bankrupt  or  even 
needy  company  almost  as  a  necessary  consequence  has  a  road 
ill-equipped,  unsafe  and  insufficiently  operated;  and,  indeed, 
all  such  as  a  rule  constitute  a  heavy  drawback  on  the  communi- 
ties which  they  are  supposed  to  serve." 

And  again — 

The  board  does  not  attempt  to  divide  with  the  directors 
responsibility  for  railroad  management.  It  is  not  its  function 
to  correct,  if  it  could,  errors  of  judgment  in  the  determination 
of  purely  business  questions.  Such  a  task  is  impracticable 
without  the  knowledge  and  opportunity  that  comes  only  from  the 
entire  control  of  affairs.  It  has  been  the  policy  of  this  State, 
in  connection  with  the  private  ownership  of  railroads,  to  estab- 
lish a  supervision  that  shall  leave  the  business  management 
of  the  roads  to  the  owners  unhampered,  so  long  as  it  is  con- 
ducted in  a  reasonable  manner." 

As  a  consequence  of  all  this,  the  corporations,  as  a  rule,  have 
a  friendly  feeling  for  the  commissions  and  are  disposed  to  con- 
cede the  necessity  and  advantage  of  such  regulation.  It  is  a 
striking  fact  that  at  a  recent  National  Electric  Light  Conven- 
tion, representatives  from  Massachusetts  were  foremost  in  secur- 
ing from  that  convention  against  vigorous  opposition  endorse- 
ment of  the  principle  of  commission  control. 

Let  us,  however,  consider  the  separate  boards.  Massachusetts 
has  always  been  proud  of  her  railroad  commis- 
The  Railroad  sion.  In  contrast  with  commissions  in  many 
Commission  other  states,  it  has  been  remarkably  free  from 
political  influence.  Men  have  not  received  the 
office  as  a  political  reward,  nor  have  they  used  it  as  a  stepping 


JOSEPH  B.  EASTMAN 


293 


stone  to  greater  political  honors.  On  the  contrary,  from  the 
very  beginning  it  has  enlisted  the  services  of  high-minded  men 
of  marked  abiUty,  and  this  has  been  especially  true  of  its  chair- 
men. In  the  early  days,  Charles  Francis  Adams  established  the 
reputation  of  the  commission  for  courage,  enthusiasm  and  intel- 
Hgence,  and  marked  out  for  it  a  progressive  and  independent 
path.  Looking  back  over  the  years,  some  of  its  achievements 
are  notable.  Its  annual  reports  have  contained  vigorous  dis- 
cussions of  railroad  and  street  railway  policy,  which  have  had 
an  influence  far  beyond  the  borders  of  the  State.  As  President 
Hadley  of  Yale  University  once  said, 

Its  repoits  were  strong  enough  to  command  respect  and  even 
obedience.  The  commissioners  were  by  no  means  infallible. 
Some  of  their  theories  were  wrong.  But  they  had  something 
better  than  correct  theories;  they  had  practical  business  sagacity. 
They  abandoned  courses  which  proved  wrong;  they  followed  up 
with  successful  persistence  those  which  proved  right. 

The  vigor  and  forceof  their  arguments  and  the  facts  which  they 
presentedhave  placed  upon  the  statute  books  sound  and  progres- 
sive legislation.  The  great  weapon  of  the  commission,  however, 
has  always  been  an  enUghtened  public  opinion.  In  order  that 
the  people  might  know  just  how  matters  stood  and  make  proper 
comparisons,  this  Board  compelled  the  corporations  for  the  first 
time  in  this  country  to  keep  their  accounts  on  a  uniform  basis 
and  to  make  returns  that  meant  something.  Under  its  guidance 
laws  have  been  passed  which  prevent  the  construction  of  use- 
less roads  built  only  for  speculative  or  blackmailing  purposes; 
improvident  or  dishonest  leases  and  consolidations  have  been 
made  well-nigh  impossible;  and  the  looting  of  street  railway 
properties  by  companies  organized  under  the  laws  of  other 
States  has  been  nipped  in  the  bud. 

The  railroads  have  been  encouraged  to  give  proper  consider- 
ation to  local  as  well  as  to  through  business,  and  to  bring  in  raw 
materials  for  manufacture  at  low  rates;  cheap  suburban  fares, 
greater  uniformity  in  passenger  rates,  500-mile  tickets  and  the 
gradual  adoption  of  a  maximum  fare  of  two  cents  a  mile,  have 
all  been  advocated  and  to  a  large  extent  secured.  Accidents 
have  been  investigated  promptly  and  thoroughly,  and,  as  a 


2  94    PUBLIC  UTILITIES  COMMISSIONS  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 


result,  the  railroad  companies  have  been  forced  to  adopt  safety 
switches,  improved  bridge  and  track  construction,  automatic 
train  and  engine  brakes,  safety  couplers  and  platforms,  steam 
heat  for  passenger  cars,  improved  rules  for  employees,  tests  for 
color-blindness,  proper  inspection  of  locomotive  boilers,  and 
finally  automatic  block  signals  throughout.  Electric  cars  have 
been  fitted  with  fenders  and  vestibules,  must  be  well  heated, 
and  operated  under  speed  rules  nicely  adapted  to  special  cir- 
cumstances. Practically  all  these  improvements  have  been 
forced  upon  protesting  and  unwilling  companies,  as  the  records 
well  show;  but  the  commission  did  more,  for  it  took  the  initiative 
in  securing  from  Congress  the  present  law  requiring  automatic 
couplers  and  brakes  on  freight  trains.  Nor  should  any  record 
of  achievements  fail  to  record  its  efiEective  work  in  preventing 
all  new  and  dangerous  grade  crossings,  and  in  seciuing  the 
present  admirable  legislation  for  the  gradual  abolition,  with 
state  aid,  of  those  already  existing,  for  in  this  respect  Massa- 
chusetts leads  the  country. 

In  addition  to  this,  the  commission  has  always  given  prompt 
attention  to  complaints  of  all  sorts.  Probably  ninety  per  cent 
or  over  are  adjusted  without  the  necessity  of  any  formal  action, 
sometimes  over  the  telephone,  but  in  several  hundred  cases 
public  hearings  have  been  held  and  formal  recommendations 
made.  As  a  result,  rates  have  been  reduced,  new  station  bviild- 
ings  have  been  constructed,  additional  train  service  has  been 
installed  and  a  host  of  other  improvements  in  faciUties  for 
travel  have  been  secured. 

The  recommendations  of  the  board  have  been  followed  almost 
to  the  letter.  In  the  rare  instances  where  they  have  not  been 
followed,  the  legislature  has  compelled  action 
Obedience  by  special  act.    For  instance,  radical  changes 

to  the  in  rates  were  at  one  time  recommended  upon  the 

Recommen-  old  Housatonic  Railroad,  now  a  part  of  the 
dations  New  Haven  system.     They  were  not  made 

and  the  legislature  immediately  invested  the 
board  with  full  power  to  fix  rates  upon  that  line  and  enforce 
them.  As  a  matter  of  practice,  the  recommendation  of  this 
board,  made  in  a  specific  case  after  investigation  and  a  hearing, 


JOSEPH  B.  EASTMAN 


29S 


is  not  very  diflEerent  from  a  positive  order.  There  has  been  much 
confusion  of  thought  upon  this  matter.  The  recommendation 
is  a  more  courteous  form  of  procedure;  it  saves  the  feelings  of 
the  railroad  managers,  but  behind  the  velvet  glove  is  the  iron 
hand.    The  board  early  took  this  position, 

When  the  board  is  asked  to  give  a  forma)  recommendation  under 
the  statute,  it  is  not  enough  to  show  that  the  course  is  unwise. 
To  call  for  such  action  it  must  be  so  unreasonable  that  if  the 
recommendation  is  not  heeded  the  board  will  be  ready  to  follow 
it  by  calling  upon  the  General  Court  for  legislation. 

Railroad  managers  in  Massachusetts,  up  to  the  present  time, 
have  fortunately  been  susceptible  enough  to  pubUc  opinion  so 
that  they  have  rarely  had  the  temerity  to  brave  any  such  process 
as  this  by  disregarding  a  formal  recommendation.  Moreover, 
in  the  case  of  street  railways,  such  disregard  is  the  more  danger- 
ous because  of  the  power  which  the  local  authorities  possess  to 
revoke  locations. 

To  illustrate  what  has  been  done  in  Massachusetts  without 
the  use  of  drastic  orders,  I  need  give  only  three  typical  instances 
which  have  occurred  within  the  last  few  years  and  which  involve 
radical  and  far-reaching  changes  in  passenger  rates,  methods 
of  railroad  operation,  and  the  character  of  administrative  policy. 
The  recommendations  of  the  board  brought  the  sale  of  500- 
mile  ticket  books  at  $10  a  book  upon  all  the  railroads  of  the 
State,  remodeled  rules  governing  train  movement  and  methods 
of  signaling  upon  the  Boston  and  Maine,  and  occasioned  the 
overturn  of  the  management  on  the  Boston  and  Albany  division 
of  the  New  York  Central,  together  with  a  definite  change  in 
the  administrative  policy  of  that  road.  When  the  board  of 
railroad  commissioners  decides  that  certain  things  ought  to  be 
done  and  issues  a  specific  recommendation  to  that  effect,  its 
recommendations  have,  so  far  at  least,  been  respected. 

Of  course,  this  commission  has  made  its  mistakes,  and  it  has 
not  been  altogether  free  from  popular  criticism,  although  there 
has  been  on  the  whole  remarkably  little.  The  criticism  which 
is  heard  turns,  in  the  main,  upon  this  question:  How  far  may 
the  commission  be  charged  with  a  failure  to  keep  the  Massa- 
chusetts railroads  up  to  the  highest  level  in  equipment  and 


296     PUBLIC  UTILITIES  COMMISSIONS  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 


service?  It  is  urged,  for  example,  that  the  general  adoption 
of  block  signals  might  have  been  hastened ;  that  additional  track- 
age and  the  electrical  equipment  of  certain  lines  might  have 
been  secured;  that  trains  might  have  been  kept  more  nearly 
on  time;  that  the  smoke  nuisance  might  have  been  lessened; 
that  the  Boston  and  Maine  might  have  been  persuaded  to  keep 
its  equipment  more  nearly  up  to  date,  instead  of  laying  vmdue 
stress  upon  the  payment  of  regular  dividends;  that  the  equip- 
ment and  service  on  certain  New  Haven  lines  might  have  been 
improved;  and  finally  that,  although  the  board  did  at  length 
succeed  in  forcing  the  Boston  and  Albany  out  of  the  demoraliza- 
tion into  which  it  fell  after  its  lease  to  the  New  York  Central, 
it  was  negligent  in  ever  allowing  the  road  to  drift  into  such  a 
condition. 

Without  attempting  to  analyze  these  criticisms,  it  is  apparent 
that  the  tendency  of  this  board  in  Massachusetts,  especially  in 

recent  years,  has  been  to  lay  stress  upon  its 
A  Railroad  judicial  functions.  It  has  constituted  an  infor- 
Court  mal  railroad  court,  open  to  all  the  people,  where 

complaints  might  be  heard  and  adjudicated 
with  promptness  and  decision.  It  has  also  been  ready  to  give 
the  legislature  its  best  advice  when  called  upon  to  do  so,  and 
to  perform  faithfully  all  specific  duties  assigned  to  it.  Much 
farther  than  this,  however,  it  has  not  thought  it  wise  to  go. 
It  has  apparently  conceived  its  duty  to  be  to  protect  the  safety 
of  the  public,  correct  abuses  and  prevent  injustice,  but  not  to 
concern  itself  with  the  management  of  the  corporations  to  any 
greater  extent.  Of  late  years  it  has  made  it  a  point  not  to  give 
any  suggestions  or  advice  to  the  roads  which  it  was  not  prepared 
to  put  in  the  form  of  definite  recommendations,  and  it  has  care- 
ftdly  refrained  from  discussing  or  criticising  the  general  policy 
of  the  railroads  in  the  State.  With  its  present  resources  and 
staflE  of  assistants  this  has  probably  been  a  wise  course  for  the 
board  to  pursue,  and  there  is  much  to  be  said  for  it  on  other 
grounds.  But  whether  it  is  a  poUcy  which  shoxild  continue  and 
whether  the  legislature  ought  not  to  provide  the  board  with 
equipment  which  will  enable  it  to  take  a  more  positive  attitude 
toward  the  future  development  of  the  railroads  and  street  rail- 


JOSEPH  B.  EASTMAN 


297 


ways  of  the  state,  is  a  question  which  future  conditions  and  the 
experience  of  the  new  commissions  in  other  states  will  go  far 
to  decide. 

When  we  come  to  the  board  of  gas  and  electric  light  com- 
missioners, the  page  of  history  is  not  so  bright.  This  board  has 
not  enjoyed  popular  favor  or  confidence  in  the 
Gas  and  same  degree  with  the    railroad  commission. 

Electric  Light  In  the  first  place,  the  genesis  of  the  law  was 
Board  unfortunate,  for  it  grew  out  of  the  desire  of 

existing  gas  companies  in  Boston  to  be  pro- 
tected against  the  threatened  competition  of  the  notorious 
Addicks.  The  impression  naturally  grew  up  that  the  board 
was  perhaps  overconservative  and  inclined  to  lean  toward  the 
corporation  side  of  the  question.  Unfortunately,  it  was  not 
made  up  of  men  with  the  kind  of  abiUty  needed  to  dispel  such 
an  impression  as  this.  Its  policy  was  too  often  indecisive  and 
non-committal,  its  movements  were  apt  to  be  ponderous  and 
slow,  and  its  opinions  lacked  force  and  vigor.  They  have  never 
commanded  proper  interest  and  respect.  Then  again  the  board 
failed  to  appreciate  the  great  advantage  of  publicity.  It  was 
incUned  to  be  secretive  with  the  detailed  information  in  its 
possession,  and  it  failed  lamentably  to  arrange  the  tables  and 
statistics  in  its  reports  so  that  they  were  of  proper  value  to 
investigators.  It  is  by  no  means  to  its  credit,  either,  that  it 
had  little  influence,  as  a  board,  in  bringing  about  the  present 
satisfactory  state  of  affairs  in  the  Boston  gas  field. 

Still  it  will  not  do  to  underestimate  the  good  work  which  this 
commission  has  done.  While  it  has  made  mistakes  in  judg- 
ment, it  has  not  been  corrupt,  and  its  actual  accomplishments 
make  a  very  good  showing.  Of  late,  it  has  been  gaining 
steadily  in  popular  respect  and  favor.  The  existence  and 
watchfulness  of  the  board  have  certainly  tended  to  keep  specu- 
lators and  exploiters  out  of  the  Massachusetts  gas  and  electric 
light  companies.  Stock  watering  does  not  exist,  except  through 
the  voluntary  trusts,  and  the  companies  are  strong  and  well 
managed  along  conservative  lines.  Whenever  formal  complaint 
has  been  made,  the  Board  in  almost  every  instance  has  ordered 
substantial  reductions  in  rates  after  careful  investigation.  Like 


398    PUBLIC  UTILITIES  COMMISSIONS  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 


the  railroad  commission,  it  handles  a  great  many  complaints 
informally,  and  secures  amicable  and  satisfactory  adjustments. 
In  addition,  it  has  often  succeeded  by  quiet  advice  in  persuad- 
ing companies  to  reduce  rates  or  improve  service  voluntarily. 
It  has  kept  unwise  competition  out  of  the  field  with  an  iron 
hand,  and  has  done  effective  work  in  supervising  small  municipal 
plants,  helping  them  to  keep  their  accounts  in  proper  shape  and 
to  adopt  wise  methods  of  doing  business.  It  has  secured  uni- 
form accounting  from  the  companies,  and  has  built  up  a  system 
of  meter  testing  which  has  been  widely  copied  in  other  parts 
of  the  country.  It  has  by  no  means  been  a  useless  department 
of  the  government,  and  at  the  present  time  it  is  made  up  in  a 
manner  which  gives  good  reason  to  hope  for  a  vigorous  and 
progressive  policy  in  the  future. 

The  work  of  the  third  commission  which  supervises  Massa- 
chusetts public-service  corporations  is  harder  to  review.  The 
highway  commission  has  had  control  of  tele- 
The  Highway  phone  and  telegraph  companies  for  two  years 
Commission  only,  and  it  is  too  early  to  pass  serious  judg- 
ment. One  investigation  of  telephone  service  in 
Boston,  while  it  was  conducted  in  a  somewhat  unfortunate 
manner,  unearthed  widespread  political  scandals,  and  has 
resulted  in  somewhat  improved  service  and  slight  reductions 
in  rates.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  this  feature  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts system  of  regulation  has  not  reached  its  final  resting 
place.  The  highway  commission  has  comprehensive  duties 
which  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  regulation  of  public 
service  corporations,  and  it  has  sufficient  business  on  its  hands 
without  this  excursion  into  a  radically  different  field  of  opera- 
tion. It  may  be  found  wise  at  some  time  in  the  future  to  trans- 
fer the  regulation  of  telephone  and  telegraph  companies  to  the 
board  of  gas  and  electric  light  commissioners,  where  it  properly 
belongs. 

So  far  I  have  attempted  only  to  give  a  general  idea  of  the 
situation  in  Massachusetts,  of  the  character  of  the  commissions 
and  of  the  work  they  have  done.  This  convention,  however,  has 
more  especial  interest  in  the  question  of  the  relationship  between 


JOSEPH  B.  EASTMAN 


299 


these  state  boards  and  the  municipalities  of  Massachusetts. 
Does  this  system  of  regulation  conflict  with  the  principle  of 
"home  rule?"  Is  it  a  permanent  development  in  government 
or  a  temporary  expedient,  leading  to  something  radically  differ- 
ent in  the  future?  Before  answering  these  questions  it  will  be 
wise  to  explain,  first  of  all,  two  important  features  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts law,  the  revocable  franchise  and  the  corporate  fran- 
chise tax. 

It  is  not  the  custom  in  Massachusetts  to  grant  permanent 
franchises  or  franchises  for  a  limited  term  of  years,  along  the 

lines  set  forth  in  the  program  of  the  National 
Revocable  Municipal  League.    On  the  contrary,  the  fran- 

Franchises         chises  of  all  public-service  corporations,  except 

steam  railroads,  are,  with  few  exceptions,  inde- 
terminate and  revocable  at  will.  The  principle  is  the  same  in  the 
case  of  gas,  electric  light,  telephone  and  telegraph  companies,  but 
the  law  in  respect  to  street  railway  locations  is  perhaps  more 
clearly  stated.  It  is  distinctly  provided  in  the  general  law  that 
the  local  authorities  may,  after  a  street  railway  has  been  in  exist- 
ence for  one  year,  revoke  any  location  without  any  liability  in 
damages,  if  the  public  convenience  and  necessity  in  the  use  of 
the  streets  so  require  and  if  the  railroad  commission  gives  its 
approval.  In  other  words,  the  grant  of  a  location  is  substan- 
tially a  Ucense  during  good  behavior.  How  this  law  may  operate 
is  shown  very  clearly  by  the  case  in  which  the  constitutionality 
of  these  revocable  franchises  was  fully  sustained  by  the  Massa- 
chusetts Supreme  Court.  When  the  new  South  Station  was 
constructed  in  Boston,  the  location  of  several  streets,  in  which 
condtiits  of  electric  light  and  telephone  companies  were  laid,  was 
changed.  The  Boston  authorities  ordered  these  conduits  taken 
up,  and  the  Supreme  Court  sustained  their  right  to  do  so,  refus- 
ing to  allow  the  companies  one  dollar  of  damages,  on  the  ground 
that  they  held  no  property  rights  in  the  streets  and  that  their 
conduits  were  personal  property,  which  they  were  free  to  remove. 

It  may  be  said  with  little  fear  of  contradiction  that  these 
revocable  franchises,  while  they  are,  perhaps,  illogical,  have 
been  very  successful  and  meet  with  general  public  approval. 
The  power  of  revocation  is  seldom,  if  ever,  exercised;  but  the 


300    PUBLIC  UTILITIES  COMMISSIONS  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 


very  fact  that  it  exists  insures  reasonable  conduct  on  the  part 
of  the  corporations.  A  special  commission  headed  by  Charles 
Francis  Adams  made  a  thorough  study  of  franchise  grants  in 
this  country  and  abroad,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
Massachusetts  franchise  in  its  practical  results  compared  favor- 
ably with  any.  On  the  other  hand,  they  were  thoroughly  con- 
vinced that  the  term  franchise,  or  concession  for  a  fixed  contract 
period,  operated,  especially  in  foreign  countries,  as  a  check  on 
enterprise,  and  was  often  productive  of  dissension,  poor  service, 
scandals  and  unhealthy  political  action. 

The  corporate  franchise  tax  in  Massachusetts  is  really  a  device 
for  securing  to  towns  and  cities  substantial  compensation  for 
the  franchises  which  they  grant,  graded  auto- 
The  Corporate    matically  according  to  the  actual  value,  for  the 
Franchise  Tax    time  being,  of  the  franchise  to  the  corporation. 

It  is  assessed  upon  the  total  market  value  of  a 
company's  capital  stock,  less  the  value  of  real  estate  and  machin- 
ery locally  taxed.  If,  therefore,  a  company  is  doing  a  good 
business  at  fat  rates  and  finds  its  franchises  decidedly  valuable, 
the  market  value  of  its  stock  rises  in  sympathy  and  along  with 
it  the  corporate  franchise  tax  grows  larger.  The  rate  of  this 
taxation  is  practically  the  average  of  the  rates  for  local  taxation 
in  the  various  cities  and  towns.  Over  three  and  a  half  milUon 
dollars  is  paid  in  to  the  State  every  year  on  this  tax,  and  it  is 
either  distributed  directly  in  due  proportion  to  the  cities  and 
towns,  or,  what  amounts  to  the  same  thing,  it  is  retained  in  the 
State  treasury  and  helps  to  decrease  the  State  tax.  In  other 
words,  Massachusetts  has  a  general  system  which  determines 
automatically  the  compensation  to  be  paid  for  franchise  grants. 
In  effect,  the  people  of  each  city  or  town  have  the  option,  either 
of  reducing  rates  to  the  lowest  constitutional  point  or  of  treat- 
ing the  companies  more  generously  and  securing  as  an  offset 
this  tax  as  compensation,  for  the  value  thus  given  for  the  time 
being  to  the  franchises.  Under  this  system,  too,  the  burden  falls 
upon  companies  according  to  their  strength,  and  any  that  happen 
to  be  financially  weak  are  not  driven  into  more  desperate  straits 
by  the  necessity  of  paying  heavy  tribute  for  worthless  grants. 
It  is  the  policy  of  the  State  to  exact  no  other  compensation  for 


JOSEPH  B.  EASTMAN 


301 


franchises,  except  in  certain  special  cases,  and  the  reasons  are 
well  stated  in  the  following  quotation  from  a  report  of  the  rail- 
road commission: 

It  has  been  more  or  less  seriously  proposed  to  make  the 
ordinary  use  of  the  surface  of  the  street  for  railway  purposes  a 
source  of  revenue  or  relief  to  the  municipal  treasury,  either 
by  sale  of  the  railway  location,  or  by  an  excise  on  cars,  or  a  tax 
on  earnings,  or  by  requiring  the  railway  company  to  pave  or 
otherwise  maintain  the  surface  of  the  entire  roadway.  There 
is  no  reason  why  the  railway  company  should  not  pay  a  tax  on 
its  corporate  franchise  and  property,  such  as  other  similar  cor- 
porations pay.  It  is  also  proper  that  it  construct  at  its  own 
cost  the  tramway  specially  adapted  to  its  use  and  keep  the  por- 
tions of  the  roadway  adjacent  thereto  in  safe  condition  for  other 
travel,  as  is  now  required  by  statute.  These  charges  are  a  part 
of  the  cost  of  transportation  which  the  passenger  must  expect 
to  pay.  Beyond  this,  it  is  not  easy  to  see  why  one  who  carries 
passengers  for  hire  in  a  car  should  be  subjected  to  a  tax  for  the 
use  of  the  street,  any  more  than  one  who  carries  passengers  for 
hire  in  an  omnibus,  or  who  carries  merchandise  for  hire  in  a  dray. 

The  radical  objection  to  the  proposed  impost  is  not,  how- 
ever, that  it  is  a  burden  on  the  railway  company,  but  that  it  is 
a  tax  on  the  travelers.  A  tax  on  the  carrier  is  a  tax  on  the 
passenger.  Whatever  fare  the  railway  passenger  might  other- 
wise have  to  pay,  he  must  pay  in  afldition  to  that  fare  his  pro- 
portion of  the  tax,  and  the  possibility  of  the  reduction  of  his 
fare  is  to  that  extent  postponed.  Nothing  has  hitherto  been 
more  free  than  the  use  of  the  roadway,  for  all  persons,  and  for  all 
purposes  of  travel  or  transportation.  There  is  no  good  reason 
why  the  person  who  travels  in  a  street  car  should  pay,  directly 
or  indirectly,  for  the  privilege  of  traveling  on  the  highway,  any 
more  than  the  person  who  travels  in  a  public  coach  or  in  his 
private  carriage. 

The  two  questions,  therefore,  in  regard  to  the  regulation  of 
public-service  corporations,  which  have  been  a  source  of  great 
and  unmixed  trouble  to  city  authorities  in  other  parts  of  the 
country,  namely,  the  length  of  franchise  grants  and  the  amount 
of  compensation,  are  settled  in  Massachusetts  by  a  uniform 
rule  embodied  in  the  general  law.  For  the  rest,  the  field  of 
regulation  is  divided  between  the  commissions  and  the  local 
authorities.    But  the  latter  are  given  a  free  hand  only  in  matters 


302    PUBLIC  UTILITIES  COMMISSIONS  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 


of  purely  local  concern  which  cannot  be  handled  to  better 
advantage  by  the  commissions,  and  only  so  far  as  they  do  not 
inflict  indirect  injury  on  other  parts  of  the 
Home  Rule  State. 

There  is  very  little  feeling  in  Massachusetts 
that  this  division  of  labor  is  a  violation  of  the  principle  of  "home 
rule."  Nor  is  there  any  likelihood  that  power  will  be  taken 
from  the  commissions  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  cities  and 
towns.  On  the  contrary,  the  commissions  are  generally  accepted 
as  necessary  and  desirable,  and  have  established  their  right  to 
a  permanent  place  in  the  State  system  of  government.  It  is 
a  question  of  expediency.  Chicago  may  be  able  to  regulate  her 
public-service  corporations  effectively  without  interference  from 
the  State,  but  the  ordinary  small  city  cannot  command  the 
expert  knowledge  or  the  general  ability  necessary  to  handle 
questions  of  rates  and  service.  It  is  therefore  right  and  proper 
that  all  cities  should  delegate  such  duties  to  a  central  board 
which  can  devote  its  entire  time  and  attention  to  these  ques- 
tions and  establish  a  wise  and  uniform  policy  for  the  entire 
State. 

But  there  is  another  and  a  stronger  reason  for  regtdation  by 
State  commissions,  which  is  this:  There  is  hardly  a  pubUc- 
service  corporation  in  Massachusetts,  at  least,  which  does  not 
spread  beyond  the  boundaries  of  a  single  city  or  town.  The 
street  railway  system  of  Boston  extends  out  into  the  suburbs 
for  miles,  and  the  electric  Ught  company  of  the  same  city  supplies 
towns  as  far  away  as  the  Rhode  Island  boundary.  These  are 
only  typical  examples.  The  public-service  corporations  of  the 
present  have  lost  their  local  characteristics  and  have  become 
distinctly  interurban.  To  leave  their  regulation  to  the  separate 
cities  and  towns  would  be  as  unwise  as  it  would  be  to  attempt 
to  regulate  interstate  commerce  through  the  efforts  of  the  several 
States.  If  one  city  should  place  too  harsh  restrictions  upon  a 
company,  others  would  suffer  in  consequence.  This  is  the  reason 
for  the  instances  of  commission  supervision  over  the  action  of 
municipal  authorities  in  Massachusetts  which  seem  at  first  sight 
unwarranted.  For  example,  the  local  authorities  may  grant 
locations  to  street  railway  companies  when  and  where  they 


JOSEPH  B.  EASTMAN  303 

please,  and  may  surround  the  grant  with  such  conditions  and 
restrictions  as  they  see  fit  to  make;  but  the  railroad  commission 
may  review  the  grant  and  withhold  its  approval  if  it  seems  to 
be  at  all  inconsistent  with  the  pubUc  interest.  This  power  was 
not  given  to  the  commission  on  mere  theoretical  grounds,  but 
as  the  result  of  actual  experience.  Grasping  towns  had  acquired 
the  habit  of  holding  up  new  street  railways,  compelling  them  to 
widen,  regrade  or  pave  the  streets  or  make  some  other  extra- 
ordinary expenditure  before  locations  would  be  granted.  Where- 
ever  such  action  was  short-sighted  and  unwise,  the  other  towns 
on  the  Line  shared  in  the  unfortunate  results.  The  personal 
liberty  of  the  individual  is  limited  by  his  duty  not  to  injure  others, 
and  the  same  thing  applies  to  cities  and  towns.  The  public 
utilities  commissions  of  Massachusetts  do  no  violence  to  "home 
rule;"  rather,  they  protect  the  equal  rights  of  the  various  com- 
munities and  keep  them  from  harming  each  other. 

It  may  safely  be  said,  then,  that  these  commissions  are  a  per- 
manent feature  of  Massachusetts  government.  It  by  no  means 
follows,  however,  that  they  will  not  be  changed  in  form  or  other- 
wise improved.  The  State  is  watching  with  great  interest  the 
new  commissions  in  New  York  and  Wisconsin.  Of  course  a 
system  of  regulation  which  is  admirably  adapted  to  one  part  of 
the  country  may  be  quite  out  of  place  in  another.  Still,  it  is 
quite  possible  that  the  experience  of  the  next  few  years  will 
show  beyond  question  that  the  Massachusetts  system  may  be 
improved  materially  in  important  respects. 

Looking  into  the  future,  it  seems  hardly  likely  that  the  three 
present  commissions  will  be  consolidated  into  one.  Such  a  union 
has  certain  advantages.  It  should  make  it 
The  Consoli-  easier  to  secure  good  men,  and  it  focuses  public 
dation  of  the  attention,  which  is  always  desirable.  On  the 
Commissions  other  hand,  there  is  danger  that  the  commis- 
sioners would  be  overburdened  with  work;  that 
they  would  be  able  to  give  too  little  personal  attention  to  the 
separate  cases  which  they  are  called  upon  to  decide.  In  such 
an  event,  the  actual  work  of  regulation  would  fall  more  and 
more  upon  subordinates,  who  might  be  exceedingly  "efficient," 
as  the  modem  expression  goes,  but  who  usually  lack  the  broad 


304    PUBLIC  UTILITIES  COMMISSIONS  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 


qualities  of  statesmanship  which  such  work  really  needs.  The 
people  of  Massachusetts  like  to  have  the  commissioners  them- 
selves accessible  to  the  public,  and  are  not  likely  to  approve  any 
system  which  will  involve  a  much  greater  use  of  red  tape.  The 
railroad  and  the  gas  and  electric  light  commissions  have  existed 
apart  for  a  long  time  and  have  their  records  and  traditions  of 
office.  They  are  not  likely  to  consolidate,  but  the  work  now 
done  by  the  highway  commission  will  probably  be  assumed, 
sooner  or  later,  by  one  of  these  two  boards,  or  transferred  to 
an  independent  commission. 

When  it  comes  to  the  question  of  more  drastic  powers,  proph- 
ecy is  difficult.  Up  to  the  present  time,  the  recommenda- 
Force  of  tions  of  the  railroad  commission  have  been 

^  , ,,  quite  as  effective  as  the  orders  of  the  board  of 

Public  ^  , 

_  .  .  gas  and  electnc  light  commissioners.  Public 

opinion  in  Massachusetts  has  a  tremendous 
force,  and  the  corporations  are  inclined  to  be  reasonable,  so  it 
may  never  be  necessary  to  adopt  a  very  drastic  form  of  regu- 
lation. Still,  conditions  are  changing  rapidly.  At  the  time 
when  the  railroad  board  was  created,  and  for  a  long  time  after- 
ward, there  was  no  dominating  influence  among  the  railroads. 
On  the  contrary,  the  companies  were  numerous  and  small, 
managed  by  residents  of  the  State  who  generally  had  some 
inbred  respect  for  law  and  decency.  It  is  interesting  to  specu- 
late as  to  what  might  have  happened  if  the  State  had  contained 
such  a  dominant  personality  as  Commodore  Vanderbilt,  with 
his  contempt  for  any  other  law  than  the  dictates  of  his  own  will 
and  his  tremendous  grip  on  the  railroad  situation.  Fortunately 
Massachusetts  has  never  bred  such  a  man.  But  New  England 
is  now  nearing  the  end  of  a  period  of  railroad  reconstruction. 
The  control  of  Massachusetts  railroads  is  passing  out  of  the 
State  and  into  the  hands  of  men  not  so  easily  influenced  by  local 
pubUc  opinion,  men  stronger  and  harder  to  curb.  The  control 
of  the  Boston  and  Albany  some  time  ago  went  to  the  New  York 
Central,  and  now  the  Boston  and  Maine  seems  to  be  slipping 
into  the  control  of  interests  affiUated  with  the  New  York,  New 
Haven  and  Hartford.  What  effect  this  will  have  upon  the 
efficiency  of  the  commission  remains  to  be  seen.    The  only 


JOSEPH  B.  EASTMAN  305 

evidence  we  have  upon  the  point  is  the  somewhat  encouraging 
fact  that  the  board,  backed  by  the  force  of  an  outraged  and 
thoroughly  aroused  public,  did  succeed  by  recommendation 
alone  in  overturning  the  management  of  the  Boston  and  Albany 
and  changing  its  administrative  policy.  Massachusetts  has 
never  desired  to  treat  its  pubUc-service  corporations  with  a 
high  hand,  or  to  antagonize  them  unduly.  So  long,  then,  as 
the  friendly  and  peaceful  recommendation  continues  to  serve 
the  purpose  as  well  as  it  has  up  to  the  present  time,  it  is  not 
likely  to  be  displaced  by  the  more  rigorous  order. 

In  certain  other  respects,  it  seems  probable,  even  on  present 
evidence,  that  the  New  York  and  Wisconsin  commissions  have 
improved  on  Massachusetts  practice.  They  are  organized  with 
a  view  to  systematic  and  scientific  investigation,  and  have  at 
their  command  highly  paid  engineers  and  a  large  and  adequate 
staff  of  inspectors.  Massachusetts,  fortunately,  has  not  had  to 
deal  with  many  complicated  rate  questions,  for  the  State  is 
small,  and  all  the  important  freight  rates  are  interstate.  At 
the  same  time,  the  expenses  of  the  commissions  have  been  kept 
down  to  a  somewhat  parsimonious  level.  The  law  which 
established  the  railroad  commission  provides  that  its  annual 
report  shall  "include  such  statements,  facts  and  explanations 
as  will  disclose  the  actual  working  of  the  system  of  railroad  and 
railway  transportation  in  its  bearing  upon  the  business  and 
prosperity  of  the  Commonwealth,"  and  "such  suggestions  as 
to  its  general  railroad  and  railway  policy,  or  any  part  thereof, 
or  the  condition,  affairs  or  conduct  of  any  corporation  or  com- 
pany, as  may  seem  to  it  appropriate."  The  laws  in  regard  to 
the  other  commissions  contain  somewhat  similar  provisions. 
The  tendency,  as  noted  above,  has  been  to  interpret  this  part  of 
the  law  rather  narrowly.  While  this  reflects  no  discredit  upon 
the  commissions,  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  time 
has  now  come  when  a  more  positive  attitude  should  be  taken. 
It  would  seem  that  a  State  commission  ought  to  have  enough 
resotirces  at  its  command  so  that  it  can  keep  thoroughly  posted 
in  regard  to  the  best  modern  practice  all  over  the  world  among 
public-service  corporations  of  the  kind  which  it  supervises,  so  that 
it  can  have  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  actual  conditions  in 


3o6    PUBLIC  UTILITIES  COMMISSIONS  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 


its  own  State,  and  so  that  it  can  at  least  inform  the  people  of 
the  State  just  how  far  and  in  what  particulars  their  corporations 
fall  below  the  best  existing  standards.  If  such  work  is  done, 
there  will  be  little  danger  that  corporations  will  drift  into  a  rut 
and  fall  behind  the  times,,  because  the  public  will  know  what 
ought  to  be  done  and  will  hold  them  up  to  it.  In  order  to  do 
such  work  in  the  best  way,  the  Massachusetts  commissions  will 
need  more  expert  assistance  and  a  larger  inspection  force  than 
they  now  possess.  The  next  few  years  may  possibly  see  some 
change  of  this  sort. 

But  there  is  another  improvement  in  methods  of  regulation 
which  the  State  is  experimenting  with  at  the  present  time,  and 
which  seems  likely  to  make  a  permanent  place  for  itself.  It  is 
well  known  that  commission  control  may  sometimes  lead  to 
stagnation.  For  example,  the  managers  of  a  gas  company, 
realizing  that  their  rates  are  likely  to  be  ordered  down  if  they 

show  an  unusual  profit,  have  no  incentive  to 
The  Sliding  put  their  best  brains  and  energies  into  the 
Scale  business.    They  are  content  to  maintain  the 

status  quo,  without  striving  for  anything  better. 
To  get  rid  of  this  difficulty,  the  State  is  experimenting  with  the 
London  sliding  scale  system  of  regulation,  an  importation  from 
England,  and  has  applied  it  to  the  Boston  ConsoUdated  Gas 
Company.  A  standard  dividend  of  7  per  cent  was  fixed,  a 
standard  price  of  90  cents,  and  for  every  reduction  of  5  cents 
in  the  price  of  gas  the  dividends  may  be  increased  i  per  cent. 
For  the  period  of  ten  years  the  company  is  free  from  any  other 
regulation  of  its  rates.  This  system  has  been  in  effect  in  Boston 
for  two  years,  and  has  brought  the  price  of  gas  down  to  80  cents. 
So  successful  has  it  been  that,  in  the  near  future,  a  general  law 
is  likely  to  be  passed  under  which  other  gas  companies  in  the 
State  will  be  able  to  avail  themselves  of  this  form  of  regulation. 

But,  after  all,  these  improvements  and  the  whole  system  of 
regulation  are  matters  of  but  secondary  importance.  The 
value  of  any  system  depends  in  the  final  analysis  upon  the 
temper  of  the  people  of  the  State.  If  the  commissioners  are 
men  of  force  and  genuine  ability,  they  will  accomplish  good 
results  even  with  very  inadequate  powers  and  imperfect  laws; 


JOSEPH  B.  EASTMAN 


but  weak  or  dishonest  men  will  bring  into  disrepute  the  best 
devised  system  in  the  world.  Whether  or  not  effective  men 
are  appointed,  and  whether  or  not  even  men  of  the  right  type 
do  their  best  work,  depends  upon  the  people.  In  the  first 
place,  they  must  elect  good  governors,  in  the  second  place  they 
must  help  those  governors  select  the  right  men,  and  in  the  third 
place  they  must  keep  in  touch  with  the  commissions,  study 
the  questions  which  they  are  handling,  and  let  them  know  how 
public  opinion  stands.  This  last  requirement  seems  to  be  by 
far  the  most  important  of  the  three. 

It  is  very  easy  for  a  commission  to  fall  into  a  rut  and^lose 
enthusiasm.  Such  a  thing  has  happened  many  times  in  this 
country.  It  is  very  easy  for  a  commission  to  come,  often  with- 
out knowing  it,  under  corporation  influence.  Both  of  these 
unfortunate  results  are  hkely  to  happen  if  the  people  of  a  State 
forget  that  they  have  such  boards  and  pay  no  attention  to  them. 
In  any  event  and  under  all  circumstances,  we  may  rest  assured 
that  the  corporations  will  keep  in  close  touch  with  the  men  on 
these  commissions.  No  matter  how  trifling  the  question  may 
be,  able  lawyers  will  say  all  that  can  be  said  on  the  corporation 
side.  To  act  as  a  judge  and  an  attorney  for  the  people  at  one 
and  the  same  time  is  a  hard  and  discouraging  task.  To  confront 
able  lawyers  day  after  day  without  assistance  from  the  general 
public  will  sooner  or  later  sap  the  enthusiasm  of  any  man,  and 
impair  his  best  judgment.  There  is  only  one  way  to  overcome 
this  sort  of  thing,  and  it  is  to  offset  the  pressure  and  influence 
from  the  corporation  side  by  a  keen  public  interest  in  the  work 
of  the  commissions  which  will  show  itself  at  their  offices,  and  by 
organized  effort  insure  adequate  representation  of  the  point  of 
view  of  the  general  public. 

If  Massachusetts  has  been  at  all  successful  in  regulating  public- 
service  corporations  by  means  of  commissions,  it  is  due  primarily 
to  the  fact  that  the  people  of  the  State  have  not  altogether  failed 
in  their  duty  as  citizens.  They  have  elected  good  governors; 
the  governors  have  appointed  able  and  courageous  men;  and 
the  people  have  in  some  measure  shown  an  active  interest  in 
the  work  of  the  commissions  after  they  were  appointed. 


Municipal  Reference  Libraries 


DR.  HORACE  E.  FLACK 
Municipal  Reference  Librarian,  Baltimore 

The  importance  of  efficient  municipal  government  is  more 
generally  recognized  today  than  at  any  previous  time  in  our 
history.  The  citizen  realizes  as  never  before  what  inefficiency 
and  poor  laws  really  cost  the  community.  Some  of  this  cost  is 
due  to  vicious  or  incompetent  officials,  but  by  far  the  greater 
cost  can  be  laid  to  ignorance,  both  on  the  part  of  the  citizens 
and  the  officials.    Something  more  than  honesty  and  sincerity 

is  needed  to  make  our  municipal  government 
Something  what  it  shotdd  be;  something  more  than  the 
more  than  arousing  of  the  public  to  take  an  interest  in 

Honesty  and  municipal  affairs,  and  this  something  is  knowl- 
Sincerity  edge  and  light.    It  does  not  suffice  to  point 

out  an  abuse,  though  this  is  essential;  but 
it  is  necessary  to  provide  a  remedy.  There  are  always  those  who 
have  remedies  ready-made  for  every  abuse  or  imagined  abuse 
that  exists  in  the  body  politic,  but  these  remedies  are  not  always 
sound  and  practical.  I  do  not  believe  I  am  overstating  it  when 
I  say  that  almost  the  entire  lack  of  interest  which  the  ordinary 
citizen  takes  in  municipal  government  and  the  apparent  indif- 
ference with  which  he  regards  the  so-called  reform  movements 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  so  frequently  the  measures  proposed  have 
not  remedied  the  abuses,  or  that  the  reform  programs  have  not 
been  carried  out.  Had  those  who  fought  the  abuses  been  pro- 
vided with  definite  knowledge  and  accurate  data  from  other 
municipalities  in  regard  to  the  same  subjects,  the  results  might 
have  been  different. 

If  the  city  does  not  at  present,  it  ultimately  will,  exceed  the 
state  in  importance.    At  present  almost  thirty-five  per  cent  of 

(308) 


HORACE  E.  FLACK  309 

the  people  of  the  United  States  reside  in  cities  of  over  8000 
inhabitants.  In  a  few  decades,  over  one-half  of  the  people  will 
reside  in  cities.  It  would  seem  to  follow  as  a  necessary  result 
that  the  problems  of  self-government  are  fast  becoming  the 
problems  of  city  government.  The  present  tendency,  a  tendency 
which  all  mvmicipal  students  heartily  support,  is  to  grant  more 
and  more  home  rule  to  the  cities.  Some  one  has  remarked  that 
it  will  not  be  long  until  there  will  be  practically  only  two  classes 
of  law-making  bodies — the  city  council  and  the  national  congress. 
Whether  this  belief  be  accepted  or  not,  it  is  unquestionably  true 
that  the  municipahties  are  coming  to  occupy  a  greater  and  more 
important  position  in  the  affairs  of  the  country. 

The  great  industrial  and  social  problems  of  the  country  are 
almost  entirely  confined  to  the  cities,  and  they  must  be  worked 
out  there,  if  worked  out  at  all.  Mayor  Brand  Whitlock  has 
aptly  and  truly  said  in  a  recent  article  that  on  their  solution 
depended  not  only  the  future  of  the  city  people,  but  of  the  great 
mass  of  people  who  dwell  without  the  city.  The  city  is  to  be 
the  battle-grotmd  of  the  future,  and  democracy,  if  it  is  to  be 
justified  as  we  believe  it  will  be,  will  be  justified  by  the  dense, 
compact  populations  of  the  cities. 

As  remarked  by  Dr.  Charles  McCarthy,  of  the  Wisconsin  Legis- 
lative Reference  Department,  in  his  paper  prepared  for  the 
recent  meeting  of  the  American  Library  Asso- 
City  Problems  ciation,  at  the  request  of  the  National  Municipal 
the  Great  League,  we  hear  much  about  the  national  and 

Problems  state  governments  and  of  the  men  who  are 

working  out  the  problems  which  confront  the 
United  States  and  the  states,  but  one  has  only  to  stop  and 
think  to  reaUze  that  the  great  problems  are  the  problems  of  the 
cities,  and  it  is  here  that  the  great  problems  of  the  future  are 
to  be  fought  out.  When  the  people  fully  reaUze  how  much 
depends  upon  the  character  of  the  municipal  government,  when 
the  time  comes  that  they  have  information  on  which  to  base 
sound  opinions,  there  will  be  a  betterment  all  along  the  line. 
The  things  which  most  vitally  affect  every  one  who  resides  in 
the  city  are  those  things  which  are  provided  by  the  city  govern- 
ment itself,  and  not  by  the  federal  or  state  governments. 

Our  water  supply,  sewerage  disposal,  milk  inspection,  light, 


MUNICIPAL  REFERENCE  LIBRARIES 


transportation,  sanitary  conditions,  fire  and  police  protection, 
schools  and  many  other  things  are  dependent  almost  entirely 
upon  the  municipal  government.  Where  the  nation  or  state 
touches  us  once  the  city  touches  us  a  hundred  times.  Whether 
we  have  good,  cheap  transportation,  telephone  and  light  service, 
whether  our  water  and  milk  supply  is  pure,  whether  there  is 
adequate  fire  and  police  protection,  whether  we  live  amid  sani- 
tary surroundings,  whether  we  have  crowded  tenements,  whether 
we  have  playgrounds  and  parks,  whether  we  have  good  schools, 
and  whether  we  have  the  best  of  all  the  other  things  which  per- 
tain to  city  life,  depends  upon  the  efficiency  or  inefficiency  of 
the  municipal  government,  and  not  upon  the  state  or  national 
governments. 

The  welfare  of  the  entire  community,  and  especially  of  the 
laboring  class,  depends  upon  good  business  administration  in 
our  cities.  If  incompetency  or  viciousness  prevail,  if  the  public 
revenue  is  squandered  or  ill  spent,  then  the  community  suffers 
in  the  way  of  higher  taxes,  bad  service,  or  unsanitary  conditions. 
If  the  water  or  milk  supply  is  impure,  then  the  people  pay  a 
terrible  toll  in  the  way  of  infant  mortality  and  epidemics. 
The  same  holds  true  in  regard  to  every  question  or  condition 
which  affects  city  life,  and  no  argument  is  necessary  to  demon- 
strate the  need  of  using  every  instrument  possible  in  order  to 
secure  a  wise  and  efficient  municipal  administration. 

I  am  not  here  to  propose  a  remedy  which  will  be  a  panacea 
for  all  the  evils  and  abuses  which  exist  in  municipal  government 
today,  but  I  am  here  to  speak  briefly  of  one  of  the  instruments 
or  agencies  whereby  our  municipal  government  may  become 
more  business-Hke  and  more  efficient.  That  agency  is  the 
municipal  or  legislative  reference  library.  It  is  not  a  new  thing 
for  it  has  been  tried  successfully  in  connection  with  the  legis- 
latures of  some  of  our  states.  If  it  is  of  value  to  the  legislature 
of  how  much  greater  value  ought  it  to  be  to  the  mvmicipal 
government.  The  problems  of  the  municipal  government  are 
becoming  more  complex  and  more  difficult  as  the  years  go  by, 
and  it  is  too  much  to  expect  that  every  city  official  shall  be 
prepared  to  meet  successfully  these  problems  as  they  arise. 

It  is  practically  impossible  for  any  legislator,  however  ener- 


HORACE  E.  FLACK 


3" 


getic  and  industrious,  however  anxious  he  may  be  to  give  his 
city  the  best  possible  government  and  keep  it  thoroughly  abreast, 

to  collect  all  the  data  on  questions  which  come 
Difficulties  of  before  him  and  to  grasp  all  the  facts  relating  to 
Legislators         the  complex  conditions  of  modern  legislation. 

Much  study  has  been  given  to  city  government 
and  city  conditions  and  many  experiments  have  been  made. 
Several  organizations,  notably  the  National  Municipal  League, 
have  devoted  themselves  to  the  study  of  municipal  problems  with 
the  view  of  bringing  about  a  betterment  in  present  methods  of 
administration.  With  few  exceptions,  however,  there  has  been 
no  determined  effort  to  collect,  compile  and  index  this  material 
for  the  use  of  those  who  have  charge  of  the  administration  of 
our  city  government.  It  seems  more  essential  that  those  who 
administer  the  affairs  of  the  city  should  have  at  hand  such 
material  and  data  as  would  aid  them  in  their  work  than  for  an 
industrial  organization  to  have  such  data  for  its  use.  It  is  a 
well  known  fact  that  these  great  industrial  and  commercial 
organizations  have  experts  employed  to  make  experiments  and 
to  gather  data  which  will  result  in  the  most  economic  and  effi- 
cient management  of  their  particular  industries.  Why  should 
the  city  be  less  progressive? 

We  have,  then,  first,  a  great  increase  in  the  complexity  of 
social  and  economic  conditions,  of  legislative  and  administrative 

problems;  and  secondly,  a  great  many  students 
Complexity        who  are  making  a  careful  study  of  the  problems 

which  arise  as  well  as  the  great  number  of 
experiments  which  are  being  tried  by  the  different  cities,  but 
the  means  have  not  been  provided  for  making  the  results  of 
these  studies  and  experiments  of  practical  use.  It  is  to  solve 
this  problem — to  bring  the  results  of  the  experiences  of  other 
cities  into  such  form  as  to  be  easily  accessible  to  city  officials, 
that  is  offered  by  the  establishment  of  the  municipal  reference 
library. 

Such  a  library  should  not  only  be  a  storehouse  for  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  past,  but,  if  it  is  to  accomplish  its  greater  work,  it 
should  have  on  hand  the  experiences  of  other  cities,  so  that 
there  would  be  no  need  to  spend  the  public  money  in  unwise  or 


312 


MUNICIPAL  REFERENCE  LIBRARIES 


needless  experiments.    Probably  every  one  here  knows  of  in- 
stances where  street  paving,  garbage  disposal, 
The  Necessity     gas  or  electric  lighting,  and  many  other  im- 
for  provements  have  proved  utter  failures.  Some 

Information  years  ago  the  Denver  street  railway  company 
discovered  the  economy  of  electric  motive  power 
and  prepared  to  abandon  the  cable  before  using  it  on  certain 
extensions.  It  was  after  this  had  taken  place  that  a  cable 
railway  was  laid  in  Baltimore.  It  is  no  doubt  necessary  that 
experiments  be  made,  for  progress  requires  this,  but  why  should 
every  city  undergo  the  same  experience?  The  simple  fact  is 
that  we  are  either  unable  or  unwilling  to  be  guided  by  the 
experiences  of  other  cities  or  we  do  not  know  of  them,  and  I 
believe  it  is  almost  entirely  due  to  ignorance  of  what  other  cities 
have  done. 

There  is  always  some  cause  for  every  ordinance.  Some  one 
wants  to  make  certain  regulations  to  improve,  as  he  thinks, 
certain  conditions  which  would  tend  to  the  preservation  of  life, 
health,  comfort,  safety,  or  happiness.  If  it  is  a  good  ordinance, 
properly  administered,  it  will  have  that  result,  but  it  may  bring 
about  the  reverse,  in  which  case  we  will  have  tmsanitary  con- 
ditions, ill  spent  moneys,  death  and  misery.  With  data  giving 
the  experiences  of  other  communities,  the  ordinance  could  be 
so  framed  as  to  avoid  the  mistakes  or  to  use  to  advantage  the 
good  features  discovered  by  these  experiences. 

Every  city  has  its  problem  of  securing  good,  pure  milk.  What 
does  it  cost  the  community  if  there  is  a  poor  ordinance  or  if  a 
good  ordinance  be  improperly  administered?  It  is  impossible 
to  estimate,  but  the  experience  of  cities  have  demonstrated  that 
infantile  mortality  can  be  greatly  decreased  by  having  pure 
milk.  Rochester  has  furnished  a  striking  example  of  this,  and 
the  report  of  the  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry  made  in  1907 
presents  such  a  strong  array  of  facts  on  the  same  subject  that 
no  one  can  question  the  imperative  necessity  of  having  pure 
milk.  Without  sufficient  data,  however,  it  would  hardly  be 
possible  for  any  city  to  enact  the  kind  of  ordinance  needed. 
The  same  holds  true  in  regard  to  the  smoke  nuisance,  the  col- 
lection of  garbage,  paving,  and  all  the  other  improvements  and 
agencies  which  go  to  make  city  life  enjoyable. 


HORACE  E.  FLACK 


313 


Take  a  concrete  case.  If  some  city  were  to  make  you  a  flatter- 
ing offer  to  abate  the  smoke  nuisance,  or  if  it  was  your  business 
to  do  this,  what  steps  would  you  take  and  how  would  you 
begin?  Would  you  just  sit  down  and  prepare  an  ideal  plan 
whereby  all  the  smoke  would  disappear  instantly?  On  the 
contrary,  would  you  not  get  together  all  the  available  data 
possible?  You  would  make  an  effort  to  see  what  had  been 
done  by  other  communities  for  the  same  purpose,  with  what 
success  these  efforts  had  been  met,  where  any  defects  might 
be  improved,  what  appliances  were  in  use,  or  in  a  word,  you 
would  try  to  learn  just  as  much  as  possible  before  taking  any 
step  in  the  matter.  If  such  an  undertaking  justifies  you,  as  a 
business  man,  in  gathering  such  information,  how  much  more 
should  it  justify  the  city  to  see  to  it  that  no  step  is  taken  until 
all  the  facts  possible  bearing  on  the  subject  in  question  have 
been  placed  before  those  who  have  charge  of  it!  As  a  purely 
business  proposition,  it  seems  that  every  city  should  have  a 
reference  bureau  where  such  data  could  be  kept  on  file.  The 
expense  of  maintaining  such  a  bureau  is  insignificant  as  com- 
pared with  the  savings  which  are  possible. 

Such  a  bureau  of  itself  will  not  do  away  with  the  evils  or 
abuses  which  exist,  but  it  will  furnish  the  means  whereby  such 
abuses  can  be  lessened.  It  will  supply  the  data,  the  knowledge, 
which  is  an  essential  to  all  good  government.  This  material 
would  be  accessible  to  all  who  might  care  to  use  it,  and  civic 
associations  especially  would  find  it  a  valuable  agency  in  secur- 
ing needed  reforms.  With  such  a  means  open  alike  to  officials 
and  to  the  pubUc,  there  would  be  provided  a  means  for  secur- 
ing a  more  efficient  expenditure  of  the  public  funds. 

The  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research  of  New  York  City,  a  non- 
official  body,  has  shown  the  need  of  light,  and  though  it  would 
not  come  within  the  province  of  the  reference  bureau  to  con- 
duct such  investigations  as  have  been  conducted  by  that  Bureau, 
it  would  be  a  valuable  agency  for  supplying  such  knowledge 
to  those  who  desired  it.  Those  of  you  who  have  read  Dr. 
Allen's  "Efficient  Democracy"  do  not  need  to  be  told  how 
essential  it  is  to  have  efficient  officials,  but  it  is  necessary  for 
officials  to  have  accurate  knowledge  before  they  can  become 
efficient. 


314  MUNICIPAL  REFERENCE  LIBRARIES 

It  may  be  said  that  the  idea  of  the  reference  library  has  passed 
the  experimental  stage.    New  York  and  Wisconsin  have  main- 
tained such  libraries  for  their  state  legislatures  for  several  years 
and  with  great  success.    The  idea  as  applied 
German  to  cities  has  also  been  put  into  operation  in 

Precedents  Baltimore  and  Milwaukee,  and  has  been  espe- 
cially successful  in  Germany.  An  article  in 
the  Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  May,  1908,  gives  a  brief 
description  of  the  work  in  Germany  and  the  following  quotation 
is  taken  from  that  article: 

If  the  desired  information  requires  a  considerable  amount  of 
work  a  charge  may  be  made  by  the  director,  otherwise  the 
information  is  furnished  without  cost.  It  does  not  pretend  to 
be  able  to  answer  every  question  that  may  be  asked.  In  legal 
questions  especially,  it  attemps  only  to  refer  to  similar  cases, 
if  there  have  been  such  in  other  cities,  or  to  point  out  the  best 
material  bearing  on  the  subject.  It  is,  however,  in  a  position 
to  furnish  information  on  a  host  of  questions  likely  to  perplex 
the  minds  of  city  legislators.  If  an  expression  of  opinion  from 
other  members  of  the  Staedtetag  is  desired,  the  central  bureau 
sends  the  question  around  and  prepares  the  answer  according 
to  the  reports  received.  This  demand  for  information  has  two 
good  effects.  It  may  help  the  seeker  over  difficult  problems 
and  its  makes  it  possible  for  the  bureau  to  keep  alive  to  the  pre- 
vailing situation  and  to  grow  in  depth  and  breadth  of  knowl- 
edge. In  the  first  year  of  the  bureau's  existence,  one  hundred 
and  thirty-two  requests  for  information  were  made,  and  in  forty 
per  cent  of  these  cases  charges  were  made. 

It  should  also  be  pointed  out  that  the  establishment  of  such 
bureaus  might  aid  very  materially  in  bringing  about  a  uniformity 
in  municipal  accounting.  Every  investigation  conducted,  every 
effort  made  to  get  really  comparable  data  from  other  cities, 
brings  home  to  the  investigator  the  great  need  for  uniform 
accounting.  Each  bureau  would  endeavor  to  have  a  proper 
system  of  accounting  installed  and  by  collecting  all  the  infor- 
mation on  the  subject,  would  put  a  strong  weapon  in  the  hands 
of  those  who  advocated  it.  Just  as  uniform  accounting  would 
make  it  possible  for  accurate  comparisons  as  between  the  several 
cities,  so  would  the  reference  library  make  it  possible  for  the 
city  officials  and  legislators  to  use  such  comparisons  and  data. 


HORACE  E.  FLACK 


315 


In  conclusion,  we  would  say  a  few  words  about  the  Depart- 
ment of  Legislative  Reference  of  Baltimore.  The  Department 
has  been  in  existence  only  since  January  i, 
Baltimore's  1907,  but  there  is  at  present  on  file  there  over 
Library  800  books  and  over  2500  pamphlets.    In  addi- 

tion, numerous  clippings  as  well  as  letters  are 
kept  on  file.  The  material  is  classified  according  to  subject 
matter,  and  several  thousand  cards  furnish  a  guide  to  it.  The 
material  includes  charters,  ordinances,  reports,  books  and  articles 
on  municipal  questions,  etc. 

Although  a  new  departure  in  the  way  of  municipal  govern- 
ment, there  has  been  a  gradual  increase  in  the  requests  for  infor- 
mation. During  this  time  several  investigations  have  been 
made  at  the  request  of  municipal  officials,  and  the  data  collected 
have  been  submitted  to  those  desiring  the  information.  For 
the  health  department,  we  collected  data  in  regard  to  the  inspec- 
tion of  milk  and  dairies,  and  with  the  data  thus  collected  an 
ordinance  was  drafted  and  passed  by  the  city  council.  Besides 
getting  copies  of  the  ordinances  and  regulations  in  regard  to 
milk  inspection,  a  series  of  questions  was  submitted  for  the 
purpose  of  eliciting  information  in  regard  to  the  actual  opera' 
tion  and  administration  of  those  ordinances.  The  health 
officers  were  also  requested  to  make  any  criticisms  which  the 
administration  of  their  ordinances  had  suggested.  The  health 
department  also  requested  us  to  collect  information  in  regard 
to  the  plumbing  laws  of  other  cities  and  the  methods  pursued 
for  the  removal  of  manure. 

The  tax  commission  appointed  by  Mayor  Mahool  made  use 
of  the  department  to  secure  information  in  regard  to  liquor 
license  fees,  and  on  the  recommendation  of  this  tax  commission 
the  fees  were  increased  from  $250  to  $500  for  this  year,  to  $750 
for  the  next  year,  and  for  the  year  1910  and  after,  $1000.  For 
this  same  commission  a  compilation  was  made  shovv-ing  the  sales 
of  Baltimore  bonds  since  1880,  the  price  paid,  etc.,  and  infor- 
mation was  secured  as  to  the  policy  pursued  by  other  cities  in 
reference  to  the  exemption  from  taxation  of  property  engaged 
in  manufacturing  industries. 

Among  other  subjects  on  which  information  was  gathered  at 
the  request  of  officials,  may  be  mentioned  the  following: 


3l6  MUNICIPAL  REFERENCE  LIBRARIES 

The  policy  pursued  by  other  states  in  regard  to  receiving 
certain  classes  of  indigent  insane;  whether  city  property  was 
insured  or  should  be  insured  by  the  city  itself  or  by  regular 
insurance  companies;  market  licenses  and  fees;  the  collection 
and  disposal  of  garbage;  the  duplication  of  street  names;  the 
tearing  up  of  newly  laid  pavements  for  the  purpose  of  laying 
gas  mains,  water  pipes,  etc.;  how  representatives  in  the  several 
state  legislatures  are  apportioned;  licensing  and  muzzUng  of 
dogs;  salaries  of  municipal  officials;  abolishment  of  grade  cross- 
ings; the  smoke  ntiisance;  how  plans  for  public  buildings  are 
adopted;  pensions  for  school  teachers  and  firemen;  the  use  of 
school  buildings  for  social,  educational,  and  neighborhood  pur- 
poses; inspection  of  electric  meters;  paving  of  private  alleys; 
public  comfort  stations;  taxation  of  street  railways,  and  other 
subjects.  There  was  also  collected  for  members  of  the  legisla- 
ture information  in  regard  to  inheritance  taxes,  corrupt  practices 
at  elections,  printing  of  bills,  legislative  expenses,  public  roads, 
railway  rate  regulation,  public  schools,  gas  and  electric  light 
rates,  grain  inspection,  oyster  laws,  and  several  other  topics. 
Individuals  and  improvement  associations  have  frequently  called 
upon  the  Department  for  information  on  a  variety  of  subjects. 
No  charge  whatever  is  made  for  any  information  given. 

One  point  should  be  especially  emphasized,  and  that  is,  such 
libraries  must  be  kept  out  of  poUtics  if  they  are  to  be  of  any  value, 
for  in  the  hands  of  politicians,  they  could  be  made  to  serve  an 
evil  purpose.  Furthermore,  the  bureau  should  not  advocate 
or  oppose  any  measure,  but  simply  supply  the  data  and  let  the 
facts  speak  for  themselves.  The  department  in  Baltimore  is 
under  the  control  of  a  commission  composed  of  the  mayor,  the 
city  solicitor,  the  president  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University, 
the  president  of  the  Municipal  Art  Society,  and  the  president 
of  the  Merchants  and  Manufacturers  Association,  thus  remov- 
ing it  entirely  from  politics. 


The  City  Library  as  a  Business  Investment 


By  DR.  CHARLES  MCCARTHY^ 
Legislative  Librarian,  Madison,  TV  is. 

Mayor  Brand  Whitlock,  in  a  recent  number  of  the  Saturday 
Evening  Post,  quoted  De  Tocqueville  as  follows: 

Local  assemblies  of  citizens  constitute  the  strength  of  free 
nations.  Municipal  institutions  are  to  liberty  what  primary 
schools  are  to  science;  they  bring  it  within  the  people's  reach; 
they  teach  men  how  to  use  and  how  to  enjoy  it.  A  nation  may 
establish  a  system  of  free  government,  but  without  the  spirit  of 
municipal  institutions  it  cannot  have  the  spirit  of  liberty. 

If  this  is  true,  and  we  shall  grant  it  at  once  if  we  are  true 
believers  in  American  institutions,  then  I  propose  to  show  in 
a  manner  no  one  can  refute  that  the  city  library  should  be  the 
most  important  institution  in  the  city. 

Let  us  first  consider  the  question  of  the  city  library  as  a 
municipal  institution,  dealing  not  merely  with  the  affairs  of 
men,  but  more  in  its  relations  with  the  welfare  of  the  community 
and  the  public  good. 

'  Boston,  Chicago,  Baltimore  and  Milwaukee  have  Bureaus  of  Municipal 
Statistics  and  the  nuclei  of  effective  municipal  libraries.  To  emphasize 
the  importance  of  such  work  the  League  asked  Dr.  Charles  McCarthy, 
who  has  been  a  leader  in  legislative  reference  bureau  work,  to  prepare  a 
paper  on  its  behalf  for  presentation  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  American 
Library  Association.  He  did  so,  and  to  bring  it  before  the  members  of 
the  National  Municipal  League,  the  subject  was  put  on  the  Pittsburgh 
program  with  a  view  to  having  the  paper  included  in  the  formal  Proceed- 
ings of  the  League. 

Dr.  Flack,  whose  paper  is  also  published,  discusses  the  main  points  of 
Dr.  McCarthy's  paper  from  the  point  of  view  of  his  own  experience  as 
Municipal  Reference  Librarian  of  Baltimore. — Editor. 

(317) 


3i8         CITY  LIBRARY  AS  A  BUSINESS  INVESTMENT 

Our  libraries  deal  largely  today  with  the  women  and  children, 
but  no  one  suffers  today  from  poor  government  like  the  women 
and  children.  The  present  library  work  for 
Libraries,  women  and  children  is  no  doubt  a  noble  work, 

Women  and  but  the  more  fundamental  work  for  them  should 
Children  not  be  neglected  on  that  account.    The  welfare 

of  women  and  children  depends  upon  good 
business  administration  in  our  cities.  If  the  taxes  are  exceed- 
ingly high  and  the  public  moneys  ill  spent,  then  the  women 
and  children  must  suffer.  If  unsanitary  conditions  prevail,  it 
is  then  they  pay  terrible  toll. 

I  am  here  to  maintain  the  thesis  that  a  legislative  library  can 
be  made  the  best  paying  investment  for  the  city.  I  can  say 
more  money  than  any  other  institution  in  the  city.  It  can  add 
more  efficiency  to  the  management  of  public  business,  than  any 
other  institution.  It  can  give  more  health  and  happiness.  How 
can  this  be  accomplished? 

Not  only  must  the  library  be  a  proper  storehouse  for  informa- 
tion, but  it  should  be  so  governed,  so  managed,  that  the  experience 
of  every  other  city  should  be  at  our  hands  before  we  attempt 
to  spend  the  public  moneys.  Consider  for  a  minute  how  foolishly 
we  spend  our  city  moneys.  Everyone  of  you  know  of  instances 
where  garbage  plants,  street  pavings  and  a  hundred  other 
improvements  in  the  cities  have  been  failures.  Why  have 
they  been  failures?  Why  should  we  have  a  failure  in  the  col- 
lection of  ashes,  or  garbage,  or  disposal  of  sewage?  The  simple 
fact  is,  that  we  do  not  learn  from  the  sad  experience  of  other 
places.  Who  ever  heard  of  anybody  going  to  London,  or  BerUn, 
or  any  other  of  the  European  cities  for  improvements,  and  yet 
it  is  apparent  to  everyone  of  us  that  London  must  have  had 
such  prioblems  for  a  thousand  years  at  least.  Other  cities  in  this 
country  have  solved  these  problems.  Why  can't  we  have,  then, 
the  data  which  will  show  us  how  these  ordinances  work? 

To  show  the  vital  importance  of  an  ordinance,  let  us  analyze  a 
moment  what  a  city  ordinance  is,  what  effect  it  has: 

For  what  we  do  want  an  ordinance?  We  want  it  to  make 
certain  regulations  which  are  necessary  for  the  preservation  of 
life  and  health  and  happiness  and  safety.    If  an  ordinance  is 


CHARLES  McCarthy 


319 


a  good  ordinance,  then  life  and  health  and  happiness  and  safety 
will  be  preserved.  If  it  is  poor,  then  the  reverse  will  occur  and 
we  will  have  unsanitary  conditions  and  death  and  misery. 

We  are  now  having  a  fight  in  the  city  of  Madison,  Wisconsin, 
over  a  milk  ordinance.  For  what  do  we  need  a  good  milk  ordi- 
nance? What  does  it  mean  to  the  community 
What  is  an  to  have  all  the  information  about  such  ordinances 
Ordinance?  before  the  public,  to  have  such  information 
collected  and  readily  accessible  and  up-to-date 
and  in  such  form  that  the  city  council  and  our  citizens  can  use 
it?  It  means  simply  this,  that  perhaps  hundreds  of  children 
in  due  course  of  time  wiU  be  saved  in  Madison,  and  loving  homes 
will  echo  with  bright  young  voices  of  hundreds  of  children  who 
would  have  succumbed  to  disease.  It  means  less  misery  and 
less  disease. 

It  is  very  easy  to  make  a  statement  of  this  kind,  but  what  do 
the  figures  prove?  If  you  read  a  statement  made  by  the  health 
officers  of  Rochester,  New  York,  you  will  find  that  from  1887  to 
1896,  the  total  deaths  of  children  from  one  to  five  years,  was 
over  two  thousand  greater  than  from  1897  to  1906.  The  result 
of  this  was  due  to  a  milk  ordinance  and  a  campaign  for  pure  milk 
in  Rochester. 

Quoting  from  the  report  upon  sanitary  milk  production,  circu- 
lar 114,  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  from  1907,  the  following 
figures  are  interesting: 

The  following  facts  present  strong  presumptive  evidence  on 
the  relation  of  impure  milk  to  infantile  mortality. 

I.  About  one-fourth  of  all  the  children  born 
The  Fight  for  in  the  District  of  Columbia  and  about  one-sixth 
Pure  Milk  in  the  country  at  large  perish  before  the  com- 

pletion of  the  first  year.  Of  the  twelve  months 
during  the  first  year  of  life  the  first,  second,  third,  fourth  and 
twelfth  months  furnish  the  highest  mortality.  The  deaths 
dioring  the  first  four  months  are  largely  due  to  imperfect  develop- 
ment and  exposure,  while  the  jump  from  the  fourth  to  the 
twelfth  month  is  quite  suggestive,  as  it  is  the  usual  period  of 
weaning,  with  its  attending  dangers  from  digestive  diseases 
incident  to  artificial  feeding. 


3  20       CITY  LIBRARY  AS  A  BUSINESS  INVESTMENT 


2.  Nearly  one-half  of  all  the  deaths  in  children  under  one  year 
of  age  are  caused  by  gastro-enteric  diseases,  chiefly  infantile 
diarrhoea,  and  this  points  with  more  than  mere  suspicion  to 
the  fact  that  the  morbific  agent  is  introduced  into  the  body  with 
the  food.  Since  the  enactment  of  pure-milk  law  in  1895, 
per  cent  of  deaths  in  children  under  i  year  of  age  to  the  total 
deaths  of  all  ages,  has  been  reduced  from  26.94  to  18.13  1904. 

3.  The  most  frightful  mortality  rates  are  everyu^here  furnished 
by  the  hand  or  bottle  fed  children,  indicating  that  impure  cow's 
milk  and  improper  care  and  feeding  are  the  chief  primary  causes. 

Professor  Kohrer  informs  us  that  of  the  8329  infants  that 
died  in  Munich  during  1868-1870,  or  over  85  per  cent  had  been 
hand  or  bottle  fed.  Of  the  4075  infants  that  died  in  1903, 
83.3  per  cent  were  artificially  fed.  In  Berlin,  of  the  41,383 
infants  that  perished  during  1 900-1 904,  over  90  per  cent  had 
been  artificially  fed.  In  Paris,  according  to  Monat,  the  rate 
is  from  70  to  75  per  cent.  In  1903  the  health  department  of 
the  District  of  Columbia  investigated  260  infantile  deaths  with 
reference  to  feeding  and  ascertained  that  88.49  P^^  cent  of 
the  children  had  been  artificially  fed. 

In  the  face  of  the  startling  arguments  against  artificial  feed- 
ing, mothers  should  hesitate  to  subject  their  offsprings  to  such 
terrible  risks,  and  the  state  must  take  what  precautions  it  can 
to  stop  this  slaughter  of  the  innocents.  The  Washington  market 
milk  compares  very  favorably  with  the  average  German  or 
English  milk;  but  every  community  has  a  right  to  expect  milk 
free  from  dirt  and  filth,  and  hence  the  need  of  a  law  or  regula- 
tion "that  there  shall  be  no  visible  sediment  on  standing  two 
hours. " 

It  may  be  urged  that  all  such  modem  innovations  involve 
unnecessary  hardship,  but  it  should  be  remembered  that  by 
attacking  all  the  various  factors  concerned  in  the  causation  of 
the  disease  we  may  hope  for  the  best  results.  The  reduction  in 
the  general  mortality  in  the  registration  area  of  the  United  States 
from  19.6  in  1890  to  16.2  per  1000  shows  what  may  be  accom- 
plished by  preventative  medicine  and  sanitation. " 

If  these  figures  do  not  prove  that  the  city  library  or  the 
reference  bureau  can  be  made  the  best  paying  investment  the 


CHARLES  McCarthy 


city  has,  then  it  is  useless  to  argue.  If  you  were  in  the  business 
of  receiving  money  for  stopping  deaths  of  children,  would  you 
not  get  together  all  the  data  upon  milk  inspections  and  all  milk 
ordinances?  Just  sit  down  and  take  a  pencil  and  reckon  up 
what  the  milk  ordinance  was  worth  to  the  city  of  Rochester. 
Think  of  what  it  was  worth  in  dollars  and  cents,  if  you  please. 
Think  what  it  was  worth  in  human  happiness,  which  you  can't 
measure  in  dollars  and  cents,  and  just  ask  yourself  if  it  does  not 
pay  to  get  the  great  experience  from  other  cities  for  your  own. 
I  venture  to  say  that  there  are  mighty  few  writers  in  this  country 
who  know  much  about  the  recent  literature  upon  the  milk  supply 
and  there  are  still  fewer  libraries  where  these  valuable  documents 
are  advertised  to  the  public. 

I  have  given  one  instance.  I  can  give  a  hundred.  The  whole 
investment  in  the  city  library  is  small  compared  with  what  you 
can  do  with  one  ordinance  upon  a  great  subject.  What  is  it 
when  you  consider  the  hundred  subjects  which  are  coming  into 
the  daily  life  of  the  city?  I  ask  you,  am  I  exaggerating  it  one 
bit,  when  I  tell  you  that  the  city  library  is  neglecting  its  duty 
and  that  it  should  be  the  greatest  investment,  the  greatest  busi- 
ness proposition  which  the  city  possesses?  I  am  wilHng  to  put 
these  facts  before  any  business  man  and  I  don't  fear  the  results. 

Is  it  not  plain  common  sense  to  make  a  special  effort  to  col- 
lect comparative  data?    If  we  were  engaged  in  any  business 

of  any  kind,  would  we  not  try  to  hunt  up  the 
The  Value  of  experience  of  other  places,  and  the  history  of 
Comparative  previous  progress?  If  we  did  not,  we  certainly 
Data  should  not  have  the  civilization  that  we  have 

today.  As  many  of  the  great  thinkers  have 
pointed  out,  we  differ  from  the  lower  animals  in  the  very  fact 
that  our  environment  and  our  previous  history  can  be  built 
upon  and  can  be  used  to  make  our  lives  better  in  the  future, 
and  civilization  is,  fortunately  for  us,  cumulative.  The  truths 
of  this  statement  can  be  seen  at  once.  If  we  should  think  of  all 
human  knowledge  now  written  in  books  and  manuscripts  being 
destroyed  at  once,  how  could  we  build  up  our  system  in  juris- 
prudence? The  painful  experience  of  the  Chinese  Empire  at 
the  present  time,  in  the  reorganization  of  its  laws,  shows  the 


322       CITY  LIBRARY  AS  A  BUSINESS  INVESTMENT 


truth  of  this  statement.  Our  civilization,  our  art  and  our  lit- 
erature are  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  past,  and  built 
upon  the  experience  of  the  past.  But  what  has  the  ordinary 
city  library  to  do  with  the  experience  of  the  past  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  cities?  You  may  find  a  few  books,  stray  ones, 
upon  civic  government,  but  many  libraries  will  have  the  ordi- 
nances of  their  own  cities,  and  let  alone  the  ordinances  of  other 
cities.  How  many  have  ever  tried  to  get  this  experience  from 
the  past,  from  history,  from  other  cities,  in  order  to  make  laws 
and  ordinances  of  their  own  city  better,  so  that  the  people  may 
have  less  expenses,  less  taxes,  more  helpfulness,  better  educa- 
tional facilities  and  more  of  good  things  that  life  has  in  store 
for  us?    This  may  seem  a  utilitarian  theory,  and  it  is. 

Let  me  repeat  and  reiterate.  Let  us  get  down  to  business. 
Let  us  have  an  institution  where  dearly  bought  experience  can 
The  Mistakes  collected,  so  that  we  won't  make  the  awful 

,  _  mistakes  that  we  have  been  making,  not  merely 

of  Ignorance      ^,       ,  ^-         ^  ^^       ^  ■ 

through  corruption,  but  through  ignorance  and 

lack  of  information.  Let  us  pursue  in  our  library,  in  our 
store-house  of  knowledge,  the  similar  methods  that  we  would 
in  our  ordinary  business.  Let  us  make  our  city  library,  not  only 
a  beautiful  place — a  home  for  our  children,  our  women,  and  our 
young  men,  but  let  us  make  it  the  best  paying  proposition  that 
the  city  has.  You  convince  your  business  men  of  the  city  that 
your  library  is  a  business  institution,  saving  time  and  money. 
If  they  understand  this,  they  will  go  down  deep  into  their 
pockets  and  see  to  it  that  you  will  have  everything  that  you 
want  in  that  library.  If  you  want  stained  glass  windows  and 
beautiful  books  and  ornaments  for  your  library,  you  will  get 
them  and  nothing  will  be  said  if  you  show  them  that  you  are 
saving  them  money,  so  that  it  is  not  only,  then,  from  a  point  of 
business,  but  also  from  the  point  of  political  expediency,  to 
your  interest,  to  establish  departments  of  this  kind  and  keep  up 
with  the  great  interests  of  today. 

It  is  not  only  in  getting  the  data,  such  as  I  have  explained 
above,  that  the  library  is  useful,  but  a  library  is  much  like  a 
banking  system  in  our  national  credit  system.  The  amount 
of  money  in  the  system  does  not  depend  merely  upon  the  abso- 


CHARLES  McCarthy 


323 


lute  amount,  but  it  depends  largely  upon  the  rapidity  of  circu- 
lation and  it  depends  upon  many  other  elements  of  that  kind. 
It  is  the  same  way  with  information.  If  you  get  hold  of  a  good 
book  on  tuberculosis,  you  have  done  a  worthy  thing,  but  the 
efficiency  of  that  book  depends  upon  the  number  of  people  who 
read  it  and  the  number  of  times  you  got  that  information  out  to 
the  great  mass  of  people.  In  this  way  you  can  help  out  public 
sentiment  and  consequently  you  make  good  government.  It 
takes  a  long  while  to  get  new  ideas  to  people;  the  quicker  you 
get  them  to  the  people,  the  more  efficient  you  are.  Your  library 
should  be  like  a  lump  of  yeast.  You  should  have  an  organiza- 
tion which  would  have  some  way  of  sending  a  growing  plant 
through  the  body  politic.  The  system  with  which  you  get 
your  information  out,  the  rapidity  of  circulation,  the  wideness 
of  the  field  of  circulation,  are  just  as  important  factors  as  is 
the  factor  of  getting  the  material  in  first  place.  We  need 
some  machinery  for  getting  this  information  more  quickly  to 
the  people.  We  need  this  as  a  part  of  this  general  business 
proposition.  A  business  man,  if  he  had  a  good  thing,  would 
certainly  advertise,  and  the  advertising  part  certainly  should 
be  a  great  department  in  the  library. 

If  you  were  going  to  go  into  business  tomorrow  to  cure  tuber- 
culosis, you  would  not  sit  down  quietly  in  some  back  room  and 
say  nothing  about  it.  If  you  were  going  to  make  money  out 
of  it  and  make  it  the  best,  you  would  flash  it  upon  every  wall, 
so  that  people  could  understand  it.  Now  when  we  know  of 
the  scientific  discoveries  in  the  prevention  of  tuberculosis  and 
we  have  this  scientific  information  in  our  library,  we  should 
flash  it  out  some  way  to  the  people.  If  we  have  information 
about  any  of  the  important  things  in  our  civic  life,  the  great 
improvements  in  human  thought,  we  ought  to  flash  it  out 
in  the  same  way.  It  is  not  a  question  of  ancient  sentiment 
as  to  the  dignity  of  library  methods,  it  is  one  of  doing  good  by 
whatever  means  you  can  do  good.  It  is  a  simple  business  propo- 
sition. 

What  I  have  said  here  today,  I  can  only  say  to  any  business 
man  and  he  cannot  criticise  it  and  the  only  criticism  I  am  get- 
ting upon  a  proposition  of  this  kind,  is  from  mossbacked  indi- 


324       CITY  LIBRARY  AS  A  BUSINESS  INVESTMENT 

viduals  who  have  been  kept  carefully  within  the  artificial  sanc- 
tions of  the  past.  I  am  not  afraid  of  a  business  man  looking  at 
this  proposition  any  other  way  than  the  way  I  look  at  it. 

Our  libraries  should  be  a  part  of  our  civic  life.  If  your  city 
is  advertising  its  facilities  in  trying  to  btiild  up  great  manufac- 
tures, then  the  library  should  cooperate  with  the  citizens  and 
organize  for  that  purpose.  It  should  be  in  every  act  or  move- 
ment for  the  betterment  of  the  city,  both  from  the  business 
side  and  from  the  city  beautiful  side. 

We  are  met  by  a  himdred  things  in  the  cities,  where  one  thing 
touches  from  the  national  government,  or  from  the  state.  The 
national  government  and  the  state  government  take  but  slowly 
the  things  from  the  foreign  coimtries.  We  get  them  into  cities 
first  and  they  are  strange  to  us  and  we  know  nothing  of  their 
history  or  their  inception.  As  we  have  become  crowded  in 
our  cities,  we  are  meeting  problems  which  we  never  thought 
of  before,  and  we  must  meet  them  largely  in  the  way  in  which 
people  have  met  problems  of  the  same  kinds  in  other  cities, 
where  crowded  conditions  have  existed.  Those  cities  are  in 
the  crowded  districts  of  Europe,  and  the  strange  new  things 
which  we  have  in  our  city  life  today  are  coming  from  those 
cities,  and  we  must  make  no  mistakes  in  deaHng  with  them. 
Those  mistakes  will  be  costly.  They  effect  vitally  the  happi- 
ness of  human  beings,  and  as  we  reduce  the  number  of  those 
mistakes,  so  will  we  make  happiness  for  human  beings.  I 
know  of  no  greater  joy  than  the  reaUzation  that  a  man  knows 
that  he  is  doing  good  in  the  world  and  making  greater  happiness 
in  the  world,  and  I  will  tell  my  brother  librarians  tonight  that 
they  will  find  no  greater  happiness  than  working  in  these  new 
city  problems,  and  you  can  see  every  day  you  work,  however 
little  you  do,  what  wonderfvd  things  you  can  accomplish. 

We  want  a  man  who  can  get  hold  of  these  ideas,  who  knows 
how  to  get  a  hold  of  them,  and  who  uses  them  as  a  carpenter 
does  his  lumber,  to  take  something  out  of  it — to  build  something 
out  of  it.  We  need  the  teacher-librarian.  The  teacher- librarian 
is  a  librarian  of  the  future.  We  need  the  specialist,  especially 
in  the  great  field  of  sociology,  because  it  is  in  this  great  field 
that  the  city  activities  and  great  civic  improvements  are  being 


CHARLES  McCarthy  325 

agitated.  What  I  have  given  you  about  cooperation  and  gath- 
ering of  comparative  data,  is  not  any  new  idea.  It  is  already 
at  work  in  many  cities  and  has  been  especially  successful  in 
Germany. 

Quoting  from  Annals  of  American  Academy,  May,  1908, 
describing  the  German  Stadtetag: 

More  important  than  the  meetings  of  the  Stadtetag  is  the 
central  bureau  opened  on  April  i,  1906,  in  Berhn.  The  director 
of  this  bureau  is  selected  by  the  administrative 
The  German  conmiittee  and  must  be  a  man  educated  in  law 
Stadtetag  or  in  political  economy  and  familiar  with  city 

laws  and  city  administration.  He  is  furnished 
with  a  staff  of  helpers  and  secretaries,  and  under  the  oversight 
of  the  administrative  committee  carries  on  the  work  pertaining 
to  the  office. 

The  tasks  which  this  central  office  have  tmdertaken  are  many. 
A  preliminary  step  for  all  its  other  activities  is  the  creation  and 
maintenance  of  a  special  library  deaUng  with  city  affairs.  De- 
signed to  be  of  use  in  research  work,  it  includes  not  only  books 
and  other  pubUcations  common  to  all  libraries,  but  also  a  variety 
of  material  such  as  schedules,  pubUc  announcements,  copies  of 
important  documents  and  newspaper  clippings.  Each  mem- 
ber of  the  Stadtetag  is  pledged  to  furnish  free  of  charge  a  copy 
of  all  its  more  important  printed  matter  relating  in  any  way 
to  city  government  or  to  city  life.  In  addition  scientific  studies 
and  standard  works  are  purchased  directly  with  money  set  aside 
out  of  the  income  of  the  Stadetag. 

Not  counting  some  six  hundred  books  and  written  articles 
presented  by  the  city  exposition  of  Dresden,  the  library  now 
includes  over  a  thousand  general  administrative  reports  and 
city  budgets,  more  than  eight  thousand  local  laws,  tariffs,  and 
service  instructions,  hundreds  of  police  regulations  and  city 
cotmcil  decrees,  historical  works  and  statistical  material  of  all 
kinds. 

The  material  is  grouped  according  to  the  following  arrangement : 
I.  (a)  Administrative  reports. 

(b)  Current  bills,  mtmicipal  joiimals,  reports  of  sittings. 

(c)  Personal  information,  directories,  etc. 


326       CITY  LIBRARY  AS  A  BUSINESS  INVESTMENT 

2.  Budgets  and  final  accounts. 

3.  Local  laws,  instruction  and  other  administrative  papers,  im- 

portant contracts,  police  measvures. 

4.  Statistical  material. 

5.  Historical  works. 

6.  Various  publications  not  to  be  brought  under  i,  4,  5. 
Within  each  group  the  material  is  arranged  alphabetically 

by  cities,  so  that  under  the  name  of  each  city  may  be  found  the 
books  or  other  articles  deaUng  with  that  special  group  of  the 
city's  activities.  All  representatives  of  the  cities  or  of  the 
associations  of  cities  have  the  right  to  make  use  of  the  library. 
The  director  may  also  grant  this  privilege  to  representatives  of 
city  boards  or  to  private  persons  for  the  purpose  of  study. 

No  charge  is  made  except  in  cases  where  the  collection  of 
voluminous  material  is  demanded.  Provision  is  also  made  for 
loaning  the  material  to  the  parties  mentioned,  but  not  in  so  far 
as  it  is  needed  at  the  bureau  itself.  The  aim  is  to  make  the 
library  the  chief  center  for  the  scientific  study  of  city  affairs. 
It  is  open  on  weekdays  from  9  a.m.  to  2  p.m.,  and  offers  to  the 
investigator  the  latest,  the  best,  and  the  most  complete  material 
for  study  in  the  activities  of  German  cities  that  can  be  found 
anywhere. 

"With  this  library  as  a  source,  the  central  bureau  offers  to 
furnish  information  to  the  members  of  the  Stadtetag,  to  smaller 
mimicipalities,  to  local  boards  and  to  private  persons.  If  the 
desired  information  requires  a  considerable  amount  of  work 
a  charge  may  be  made  by  the  director,  otherwise  the  informa- 
tion is  ftunished  without  cost.  It  does  not  pretend  to  be  able 
to  answer  any  question  that  may  be  asked.  In  legal  questions, 
especially,  it  attempts  only  to  refer  to  similar  cases,  if  there  have 
been  such  in  other  cities,  or  to  point  out  the  best  material  bear- 
ing on  the  subject.  It  is,  however,  in  a  position  to  furnish 
information  on  a  host  of  questions  likely  to  perplex  the  minds 
of  city  legislators.  If  an  expression  of  opinion  from  other  mem- 
bers of  the  Stadtetag  is  desired,  the  central  bureau  soimds  the 
question  arotmd  and  prepares  the  answer  according  to  the 
reports  received.  This  demand  for  information  has  two  good 
effects.    It  may  help  the  seeker  over  a  difficult  problem  and  it 


CHARLES  McCarthy 


327 


makes  it  possible  for  the  bureau  to  keep  alive  to  the  prevailing 
situation  and  to  grow  in  depth  and  breadth  of  knowledge.  In 
the  first  year  of  the  bureau's  existence,  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
two  requests  for  information  were  made,  and  in  forty  per  cent 
of  these  cases  charges  were  made. 

A  word  in  conclusion — If  you  start  this  work,  get  the  right 
person  to  run  it. 

The  success  of  this  work  depends  upon  the  people  who  do  it. 
As  a  success,  all  great  work  depends  upon  a  personality.  It  is 
not  the  iron,  or  stone,  or  glass  or  beautiful  pictures  which  make 
or  makes  a  college  a  civilization.  It  is  the  personality  of  the 
people  and  not  the  material  things.  You  always  can  make 
fine  bindings,  but  it  is  mighty  hard  to  find  a  man.  I  urge  upon 
you,  if  you  start  work  of  this  sort,  to  get  the  right  men.  Get 
men  with  economical  training  and  men  who  are  willing  to  devote 
a  lifetime  to  this  special  work.  Otherwise,  don't  get  anybody! 
Don't  allow  the  thing  to  exist !  Don't  let  a  politician  get  hold 
of  it!  Get  the  right  men  and  the  right  women,  or  don't  get 
anybody.  This  is  a  work  which  requires  special  training,  not 
only  in  the  library  school,  but  especially  in  economics  and  the 
general  field  of  sociology  and  law.  It  is  highly  specialized  work 
and  cannot  be  done  without  special  training. 

We  are  very  fortunate  in  Wisconsin  in  having  numbers  of 
young  men  in  our  University  who  are  taking  up  the  classes 
which  are  connected  with  this  work,  who  are  now  going  out  to 
all  departments  of  all  sorts  in  the  country. 


The  Bureau  of  the  Census  as  an  Agent  of 
Municipal  Reform 


By  HON.  LeGRAND  POWERS 
Chief  Statistician.  Bureau  of  the  Census 

I  have  been  requested  to  state  for  the  benefit  of  this  conference 
how  the  schedules  prepared  by  the  Bureau  of  the  Census  are 
reinforcing  the  modern  demand  for  increasing  efficiency  of 
municipal  governments;  or,  in  other  words,  how  the  work  of 
the  Bureau  is  acting  as  an  agent  in  mimicipal  reform. 

I  will  begin  my  statement  by  saying  that  the  work  of  the 
Bureau  is  advancing  the  cause  of  improved  mvmicipal  govern- 
ment because  its  reports  provide  for  cities  what  the  best  accoimts 
and  reports  furnish  the  administration  of  the  most  successful 
private  enterprises.  Those  enterprises  have  accounts  with  all 
their  sources  of  income  and  all  their  objects  of  expenditure. 
Expenditures  are  classified  according  to  function,  and  the  accounts 
provide  the  means  for  ascertaining  and  stating 
Classification  the  cost  of  each  and  every  activity  or  class  of 
business  operation.  The  same  classification  is 
used  one  year  that  is  employed  in  preceding  years,  so  as  to 
provide  a  means  for  utilizing  the  experience  of  one  year  as  a 
test  of  the  results  of  business  operations  in  the  next.  In  like 
manner,  if  a  corporation  or  firm  operates  a  ntmiber  of  different 
enterprises,  the  accotmts  of  all  are  so  kept  as  to  enable  the 
record  of  the  expenses  of  any  one  to  be  of  service  to  all  the  others. 

The  introduction  of  analytical  statistical  accounts  of  this 
character  has  proved  of  great  administrative  assistance  to  all 
the  most  successful  private  enterprises  of  the  day.  In  some 
lines  of  manufactures  accounts  have  become  important  factors 
in  converting  old  refuse  and  waste  into  principal  sources  of  profit, 
and  changing  losing  into  paying  ventures. 

(328) 


Legrand  powers 


329 


One  restilt  of  the  introduction  of  analj^tical  and  statistical 
accounts  into  private  business  was  to  create  a  popular  demand 

for  the  introduction  and  use  of  similar  accounts 
Analytical  by  mtmicipal  and  other  governments.  This 

Accounts  demand  first  became  prominent  in  the  domain 

of  mimicipal  accoimts  since  city  governments 
came  closer  to  the  lives,  and  also  to  the  pockets,  of  the  people 
than  any  other  class  of  governments.  The  demand  for  more 
efficient  municipal  government  was  the  principal  factor  leading 
to  the  organization  of  the  National  Mtmicipal  League,  and 
those  connected  with  this  body  early  perceived  the  relation 
between  good  municipal  accotmts  and  efficient  mtmicipal  govern- 
ments. 

The  old  accounting  of  American  cities  was  conducted  with 
one  principal  or  primary  object  —  that  of  showing  that  the 
treasurer  had  not  stolen  any  money.  The  auditors  whom  city 
councils  appointed  to  examine  the  accounts  of  the  treasurer  once 
were  content  to  show  that  no  city  money  had  been  converted 
to  private  use  by  the  treasurer.  City  officials  were  not  awakened 
to  the  fact  that  accounts  shotdd  be  kept  not  only  as  a  check  upon 
the  action  of  the  treasurer,  but  as  a  check  upon  and  guide  for 
the  action  of  all  city  officials.  Private  business  is  wrecked 
infinitely  more  by  bad  management  than  by  peculation  of 
employees.  The  losses  resulting  from  carelessness  and  incompe- 
tency are  everyTvhere  vastly  greater  than  those  arising  from 
defalcation  of  trusted  servants.  The  good  administrative  officer 
recognizes  that  he  must  keep  accoimts  to  guard  the  business 
more  from  his  own  possible  laches  than  from  dishonesty  of  his 
subordinates;  and  hence  those  accounts  should  afford  the  means 
of  testing  the  efficiency  of  the  work,  not  only  of  the  treasurer 
and  fiscal  officers,  and  of  every  administrative  officer,  but  of 
their  trusted  agents — from  the  highest  to  the  lowest. 

Here  we  come  to  the  ideal  use  of  accounts  in  modem  business ; 

Accounts  as  a  ^^"^  accotmts  as  a  means  of  testing 

T,_  r        the  honesty  of  fiscal  officers,  we  now  add  their 

Measure  of 

p,~  .  employment  as  means  of  testing  and  measur- 

ing the  efficiency  of  the  work  of  all.    To  make 
municipal  accounts  and  reports  accomplish  these  latter  results 


330    THE  CENSUS  AS  AN  AGENT  OF  MUNICIPAL  REFORM 


has  been  the  aim  of  the  National  Municipal  League  since  the 
subject  began  to  attract  attention.  To  secure  the  introduction 
of  accounts  and  reports  that  would  measure  the  relative  effi- 
ciency of  all  the  various  branches  of  municipal  government, 
the  League  early  prepared  in  a  tentative  form  outlines  of  a 
uniform  classification  of  revenues  and  expenditures.  This  clas- 
sification was  made  the  basis  of  the  census  schedules  for  pre- 
paring reports  of  the  financial  transactions  and  the  financial 
condition  of  cities  having  a  population  of  over  30,000  and  I  am 
asked  to  set  before  you  the  effect  of  the  use  of  these  schedules 
during  the  last  seven  years. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  seven  year  period  a  great  mass  of 
city  officials  looked  upon  the  scheme  for  uniform  accounts  and 
reports  as  an  iridescent  dream  of  the  visionary.  Only  a  half 
dozen,  more  or  less,  of  cities,  large  and  small,  could  see  enough  in 
the  scheme  to  make  even  a  tentative  use  of  the  same  in  the  reports 
of  their  fiscal  officers,  and  these  cities  were  of  such  varying  sizes 
that  the  experience  of  one  could  be  of  but  minor  significance  or 
assistance  to  the  others.  At  that  time  if,  for  his  own  guidance, 
a  city  official  wished  to  use  the  experience  of  another  city  upon 
any  given  subject,  he  had  to  secure  the  needed  information  not 
from  printed  reports  but  from  personal  correspondence  with 
the  officials  who  could  compile  the  data  for  him.  The  grow- 
ing desire  for  this  information,  however,  had  begun  to  become 
significant  before  the  Bureau  of  the  Census  entered  upon  its 
work  of  compihng  financial  statistics.  The  Comptroller  of 
St.  Louis,  Mo. — one  of  the  ablest  of  our  city  fiscal  officers — the 
Honorable  James  Y.  Player,  has  informed  me  that  five  years 
ago  the  special  inquiries  of  this  kind  by  other  city  officers  \vere 
sufficient  to  utilize  the  services  of  one  clerk  in  his  office  all  the 
time.  With  the  advent  of  the  Census  publications,  requests  of 
this  kind  have  practically  come  to  an  end.  The  census  financial 
statistics  of  cities  provide  the  basis  for  making  the  experience  of 
one  city  the  test  and  measure  of  the  economy,  wastefulness,  or 
efficiency  of  the  administration  of  our  larger  cities.  I  say  the 
basis  of  such  a  test  and  measure,  since  if  the  census  figures  are 
employed  further  than  as  a  basis  for  such  purposes  they  may 
become  sources  of  mischief  and  wrong  rather  than  of  good. 


legrand  powers 


331 


These  statistics  are  now  consulted  more  or  less  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  budget  in  over  one-half  of  our  large  cities,  and  the 
great  mass  of  city  officers  begin  to  see  that  the  scheme  of  uni- 
form reports  is  not  wholly  an  iridescent  dream  of  the  visionary, 
as  was  the  case  five  or  ten  years  ago. 

In  summing  up  the  results  of  these  seven  years'  use  of  the 
census  schedules,  I  think  I  can  best  state  the  same  by  making 
use  of  some  of  the  terms  of  the  old  religious  revivalists  of  a  half 
century  ago.  They  employed  three  words  to  express  the  dif- 
ferent changes  in  the  minds  and  acts  of  the  sinners  as  the  result 
of  the  efforts  of  the  churches  and  Christians  to  reform  the  evil- 
doers. Those  words,  or  phrases,  were  "conviction  of  sin, "  "con- 
version," and  "regeneration."  Men  were  said  to  have  been 
convicted  when  they  were  satisfied  that  they  were  sinners;  but 
such  conviction  amoimted  to  but  little  unless  the  mental  impres- 
sion led  to  some  action  by  which  the  one  convicted  was  turned 
sharp  around  from  an  evil  course  and  began  to  walk  in  a  correct 
one.  Such  a  turning  around  was  spoken  of  as  conversion;  but 
starting  on  such  a  good  road,  though  commendable,  was  not 
enough;  the  converted  must  walk  sufficiently  in  that  road  to 
become  changed  in  all  his  vital  relations  with  the  world.  Such 
a  change  was  called  regeneration. 

Employing  these  old  religious  terms,  I  will  begin  my  summary 
of  results  by  saying  that  as  one  of  the  general  results  of  the  use 
of  the  census  schedules,  reinforced  by  all  of 
Officials  the  other  factors  working  for  municipal  reform, 

Convicted  of  city  officials  as  a  whole  have  become  "con- 
Shortcomings  victed"  of  the  folly  of  diverse  accounts  without 
system  and  without  uniformity.  They  have 
become  convinced  of  the  value  of  accoimts  imiform  for  all  cities, 
and  arranged  in  a  form  that  will  permit  of  using  accounts  as 
a  test  and  measure  of  the  governmental  economy  and  efficiency 
as  well  as  of  fiscal  honesty.  So  far  as  I  know,  every  national 
civic  organization  has  placed  itself  on  record  in  favor  of  vmiform 
accotmts  and  reports  arranged  substantially  on  the  basis  of  the 
census  schedule,  and  a  very  large  number  of  state  organizations 
are  on  record  to  the  same  effect.  Laws  have  been  passed  in  a 
number  of  states  calling  for  vmiform  reports  of  city  officials  to 


332     THE  CENSUS  AS  AN  AGENT  OF  MUNICIPAL  REFORM 


certain  state  officers;  and  in  Ohio,  Iowa,  and  New  York  these 
uniform  reports  are  accompanied  with  a  supervision  on  the  part 
of  state  officials,  and  uniform  accounts  on  the  part  of  cities. 
This  is  a  great  change  for  seven  years,  and  yet  I  must  say  that 
the  officials  of  the  smaller  mtmicipalities  have  as  yet  been 
touched  but  little  by  the  spirit  of  change  and  modem  progress, 
and  there  is  still  need  of  using  all  the  energies  of  reform  organiza- 
tion to  show  state,  county,  and  local  officials  the  true  place  of 
accounts  in  the  management  of  governmental  business. 

The  campaign  is  still  on,  and  no  friend  of  efficient  government 
can  rest  content  tmtil  every  government  official  is  aroused — 
"convicted,"  if  you  please — to  the  value  of  accoxmts  as  the 
measure  and  test  of  efficiency  as  well  as  of  honesty.  We  must 
press  home  the  good  work,  and  if,  to  hide  dishonesty  or  graft  in 
their  administration,  city  officials  are  in  the  way  of  introducing 
this  modem  use  of  accounts,  we  must  see  to  it  that  the  courts 
make  use  of  another  sort  of  conviction,  at  once  to  correct  their 
wrong  and  to  displace  such  officials  by  better  ones. 

In  this  connection,  permit  me  to  say  that  I  believe  the  work 
of  the  Bureau  of  the  Census  in  the  compilation  of  financial  and 
general  statistics  of  cities  gives  to  its  agents  in  some  respects 
the  most  agreeable  and  congenial  work  in  which  govemment 
employees  are  engaged.  The  city  officers  with  whom  our  agents 
come  in  contact  have  all  been  "convicted,"  in  the  preachers' 
use  of  that  word,  but  not  in  the  terminology  of  the  courts.  They 
see  the  value  in  the  statistics,  and  hence  extend  to  the  agents 
of  the  Census  all  the  possible  courtesies  of  official  life.  To  this 
custom  there  have  been  in  the  last  few  years  but  few  exceptions, 
and  they  were  in  the  case  of  fiscal  officers  whose  actions  were 
crooked  and  otherwise  defective.  These  exceptions  are  so  few 
that  they  are  hardly  worth  mentioning.  I  note  this  phase  of 
the  census  work  to  show  how  fully  the  city  fiscal  officers  have 
experienced  the  first  change  indicated  in  the  old  preachers'  cate- 
gory of  reformation. 

I  am  glad  that  I  can  report  more  than  the  foregoing;  I  can 
say  not  only  that  all  city  fiscal  officers  have  been  convicted,  but 
convinced,  of  the  desirabiUty  of  imiform  accovmts  and  reports 
for  the  purpose  of  making  such  reports  the  measure  of  official 


Legrand  powers 


333 


economy  and  efficiency.  A  very  large  proportion  of  the  fiscal 
officers  of  our  larger  cities  have  become  converted;  they  are 

facing  in  another  direction  from  what  they  were 
Officials  ten  years  ago.    They  are  introducing  in  varying 

Converted  degrees  the  census  classification  of  pa}'Tnents 

and  receipts,  and  introducing  accounts  that  are 
arranged  for  the  purpose  of  making  such  accounts,  in  one  way 
and  another,  the  measure  of  efficiency  of  public  service  as  well 
as  a  test  of  honesty.  Of  the  cities  containing  over  30,000  inhab- 
itants, over  one-third  have  attempted  in  some  large  degree  to 
make  use  of  the  census  classification,  and  the  other  two-thirds, 
with  few  exceptions,  have  made  some  changes  at  least,  to  show 
that  the  officials  are  turning  their  feet  as  well  as  their  faces  in 
the  right  direction.  They  have  been  converted,  turned  'roimd, 
and  are  walking  in  the  right  direction,  even  though  they  have 
not  gone  as  far  as  we  cotdd  wish,  or  as  far  as  the  situation 
demands. 

The  action  of  the  city  officials  is  in  many  cases  modified  by  the 
advice  and  practice  of  local  accovmtants  whom  they  call  in  to 
assist  them  in  improving  their  accotmts.  The  subject  of  mtmici- 
pal  accovmts,  and  the  uses  of  the  same,  are  not  very  familiar 
to  the  average  commercial  accountant,  and  hence  it  is  not  strange 
that  the  cities  fail  to  reach  uniformity  by  a  single  step.  Con- 
version is  an  individual  change;  it  is  a  facing  about,  from  one 
direction  to  another.  American  city  financial  accounts  are  now 
facing  another  way  from  what  they  were  five  or  ten  years  ago. 
It  will  take  a  long  time  to  adjust  them  to  the  new  orientation, 
but  that  adjustment  will  take  place  in  time.  It  is  already  tak- 
ing place.  The  changes  required  fully  to  introduce  accoimts 
which  will  be  tests  and  measures  of  and  aids  for  efficient  munici- 
pal government  are  many,  but  they  are  coming. 

Prior  to  the  discovery  of  America,  all  commerce  and  all  civili- 
zation fronted  upon  the  Mediterranean;  Eiu-ope  faced  south, 
and  along  her  southern  shores  were  gathered  all  the  large  cities 
and  the  seats  of  empire.  But  with  the  rising  of  a  new  continent 
to  the  consciousness  of  the  world,  Europe  began  to  change  front; 
new  centers  of  trade  sprang  up  on  the  west,  and  to  those  centers 
shifted  the  supremacy  of  trade,  commerce,  Hterature,  and  art. 


334  THE  CENSUS  AS  AN  AGENT  OF  MUNICIPAL  REFORM 

London,  Paris,  and  Berlin  took  the  places  of  Constantinople, 
Venice,  and  Florence.  As  Coltunbus  discovered  the  new  world, 
so  the  science  of  accounting  has  disclosed  new  uses  for  accounts 
and  reports.  In  the  days  preceding  our  generation  all  govern- 
mental and  private  accounts  dealt  with  personal  problems;  their 
main  purpose  was  to  show  the  amounts  owing  to  different  per- 
sons, and  the  amounts  owing  to  themselves,  and  the  extent  of 
fiscal  honesty.  In  our  day,  business  men  have  discovered  that 
efficiency  is  a  virtue  as  well  as  an  honesty;  that  waste  is  a  sin 
as  well  as  robbery;  and  the  world  of  accounts  must  face  this  new 
world  of  efficiency. 

The  changes  of  modem  accounting  in  private  as  well  as  in 
public  business,  to  take  recognition  of  this  fact,  have  begun, 

and  governments  as  well  as  private  enterprises 
Changes  in  must  as  surely  adjust  themselves  to  them  as  the 
Modern  commerce  of  the  world  had  to  shift  from  the 

Accounting        Mediterranean  to  the  Atlantic  with  the  rise  of 

the  new  world  to  the  west  of  Europe. 
To  change  the  character  of  the  accounts  and  reports  of  the 
cities  of  a  nation  is  a  great  undertaking;  it  is  one  which,  in  its 
magnitude,  can  only  be  likened  to  the  reformation  of  the  govern- 
ments of  the  same  city,  and  the  placing  of  all  municipal  life 
upon  a  higher  level.  To  accomplish  one  of  these  changes  requires 
the  services  of  all  the  friends  of  reform  and  of  good  govern- 
ment. If  made,  it  must  be  brought  about  through  the  activity 
of  a  vast  army  working  towards  the  same  end.  The  modem 
reformer  here  must  not  allow  his  egotism  to  lead  him  to  the 
conclusion  that  he  is  the  only  friend  of  good  govemment  whom 
God  has  left  in  the  world;  he  must  recognize  that  all  about  him 
are  hosts  of  good  people  who  have  never  bowed  the  knee  to  any 
of  the  Baals  of  unrighteousness.  The  movement  for  making 
accotmts  the  measure  and  test  of  and  aids  for  efficiency  of  city 
administration  is  now  being  carried  forward  by  accountants,  by 
citizens  associations,  by  students  of  mvmicipal  conditions,  by 
reformers  generally;  and  that  movement  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  in  the  country  at  large,  is  being  greatly  reinforced 
through  the  active  agency  of  the  Bureau  of  Mimicipal  Research, 
of  which  Dr.  Allen  is  to  give  us  an  account  this  day.    Mr.  Chase  is 


leGrand  powers 


to  tell  you  what  the  accountants  have  accomplished  in  the  way 
of  introducing  uniform  reports  and  accounts  in  Massachusetts 
and  throughout  the  coimtry,  and  Dr.  Allen  is  to  set  forth  a1 
length  the  work  of  the  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research  in  advanc- 
ing the  movement  for  improved  accounts  as  measures  and  tests 
of  and  aids  for  increasing  governmental  efficiency. 

For  all  the  agencies  mentioned  and  for  all  the  workers  to 
whom  attention  has  been  called  as  making  improved  accounts 
aids  for  increasing  the  efficiency  of  the  democracy  of  cities,  the 
schedules  and  reports  of  the  Bureau  of  the  Census  have  for  seven 
years  been  of  the  most  vital  assistance.  By  comparative  figures 
these  reports  have  demonstrated  to  every  doubting  Thomas 
the  fact  that  municipal  accounts  can  be  arranged  on  a  common 
basis,  the  same  as  can  those  of  private  enterprises  of  the  same 
type.  Those  reports,  though  confessedly  far  from  perfect,  as 
they  will  be  when  cities  have  introduced  common  systems  of 
accounts,  provide  the  basis  for  comparisons  of  efficiency  and 
point  the  way  for  hosts  of  future  comparisons  to  every  one  now 
made. 

These  object  lessons  have  been  of  priceless  assistance  to  every 
earnest  worker  in  the  field  of  improved  accounts  and  reports. 
They  point  the  way  to  the  new  world  of  better  city  government, 
of  more  efficient  city  government,  which  is  surely  rising  in  this 
Western  world.  This  better  government  is  not  a  matter  of 
party  government,  but  of  popular  aspiration  and  popular  need, 
and  with  the  world's  face  set  in  that  direction,  the  current  and 
activities  of  city  life,  of  city  hopes  aud  aspirations,  will  substitute 
efficiency  for  incompetency,  and  economy  for  waste.  When 
this  is  done  we  shall  not  only  have  city  governments  the  leaders 
in  honest  administration,  but  also  in  economical  and  efficient 
administration;  and  I  trust  that  the  Bureau  of  the  Census  may 
continue  to  make  its  reports  in  the  coming  years  as  much  an 
inspiration  and  guide  and  assistance  to  all  these  various  workers 
as  it  has  in  the  last  few  years. 

In  so  saying,  I  wish  to  emphasize  my  belief  that  the  city  is 
the  hope  and  not  the  despair  of  democracy.  In  the  city  must  be 
wrought  out  the  best  civilization,  the  highest  moral  and  intel- 
lectual life — a  life  that  shall  touch,  and  bless,  and  ennoble 


336  THE  CENSUS  AS  AN  AGENT  OF  MUNICIPAL  REFORM 

existence,  on  the  farm  as  well  as  in  the  mart;  but  the  keynote 
of  that  reformation  must  be  the  marriage  of  efficiency  to  moral 
excellence  in  governmental  as  in  private  business.  To  secure 
this  governmental  efficiency,  accounts  will,  by  the  force  of 
events — the  logic  of  history — ^be  made  tmiform,  as  the  measure 
and  test  and  aid  of  efficiency  of  administration.  The  needs  of 
higher  life,  the  demands  for  increased  expenditures,  are  all 
factors  which,  sooner  or  later,  will  force  accounts  to  the  aid  of 
the  efficient  administration,  and  substitute  the  efficient  for  the 
wasteful  and  shiftless  public  officer.  Here  the  Stars  are  fighting 
against  every  Sisera  of  corruption  and  of  sloth;  here  we  have 
the  promise  of  that  thorough  regeneration  of  accoimts  to  the 
needs  of  which  ovu-  officials  have  been  convicted,  and  in  a  large 
degree  been  converted. 


Municipal  Accounting  as  the  Basis  for  Pub- 
licity of  Municipal  Affairs 


HARVEY  S.  CHASE,  C.  P.  A. 
Boston 

"Conviction,  Conversion,  Regeneration"  is  the  picturesque 
way  in  which  Dr.  Powers  summed  up  the  scope  of  the  triptych, 
which  will  present  to  you  in  three  papers  the  same  number  of 
viewpoints  concerning  publicity  of  municipal  affairs  and  uni- 
formity of  municipal  accounts. 

My  part  in  this  triplicate,  or  triumvirate,  has  been  assigned 
as  the  second  one,  "Conversion,"  namely:  some  brief  statement 
of  the  changes  which  are  proposed  and  of  the  actual  methods  by 
which  these  changes  are  to  be  brought  about  in  municipal  book- 
keeping and  in  forms  of  financial  reports  in  order  to  realize  in 
practice  the  many  advantages  which  the  advocates  of  "uniform 
municipal  accounting"  have  long  emphasized. 

Having  had  considerable  experience  in  various  cities  of  the 
country  in  close  contact  with  practical  applications  of  the  princi- 
ples of  standardization  of  municipal  accounts,  perhaps  I  cannot 
better  illustrate  my  subject  than  by  describing  what  steps  have 
been  taken  in  some  of  these  cities  and  what  the  results  have 
been. 

In  the  main,  attempts  to  reorganize  municipalities'  accounts 
along  uniform  lines  must  follow  the  same  general  course,  although 
with  marked  variations  in  detail  indifferent  cities 
The  Fixed  according  to  the  methods  then  in  use  in  each  city 

Requirements     and  to  the  requirements  of  law  therein  Here 
of  the  Law         we  strike  the  first  serious  obstacle  to  the  muni- 
cipal accountant's  progress — the  fixed  require- 
ments of  law.    In  private  enterprise  no  matter  how  large  the 

(337) 


338 


MUNICIPAL  ACCOUNTING 


corporation  or  how  complicated  its  transactions  it  is  a  compara- 
tively simple  matter  to  obtain  authority  to  make  changes  in 
methods  or  even  to  reorganize  the  accounts  completely.  A  board 
of  directors,  a  general  manager,  a  comptroller  or  auditor,  pos- 
sibly a  few  others,  must  first  be  convinced  of  the  necessity  and 
practicability  of  the  proposed  changes,  whereupon  the  matter 
is  settled,  the  authority  is  given,  and  the  changes  are  inaugurated. 
All  of  these  men  in  such  a  corporation  are  fully  alive  to  the  needs 
of  their  company.  They  are  open  to  forceful  argument  and 
they  desire  to  waste  no  time. 

How  different  is  the  situation  in  a  municipality,  both  as  to 
the  type  of  men  and  as  to  the  bestowal  of  authority!  The 
municipality  of  itself  has  no  sovereign  power.  What  power  it 
has  is  derived  from  enactments  by  the  state  legislature.  These 
enactments  in  the  forms  of  city  charters,  of  general  laws  applic- 
able to  all  cities  in  the  state  and,  frequently,  of  special  statutes 
applying  solely  to  one  city,  must  first  be  studied  and  mastered 
by  the  accountant  who  proposes  to  reorganize  a  city's  bookkeep- 
ing. Next  the  ordinances  of  the  city  council  must  be  digested 
and  frequently  the  first  practical  step  to  be  taken  is  to  redraft, 
or  amend,  a  number  of  these  ordinances,  then  to  get  these 
amendments  accepted  by  various  committees  and  finally  passed 
by  the  city  council,  which  often  consists  of  two  antagonistic 
chambers.  It  is  evident  that  the  path  of  the  accountant  even 
at  the  outset  is  not  bestrewn  with  roses.  In  fact  in  all  cases 
other  than  a  few  exceptional  ones  the  accountants  must  expect 
to  tread  a  thorny  roadway ;  one  full  of  stumbling  blocks,  hidden 
pitfalls  and  far  stretching  circumlocutions  which  waste  energies 
and  impair  enthusiasms.  Very  often,  too,  the  delays  and  unfore- 
seen political  complications  exhaust  the  appropriation  for  the 
accountant's  contract  long  before  his  specified  labors  have  been 
completed  and  he  then  has  before  him  the  cheerless  prospect  of 
a  steadily  increasing  loss  of  money  in  addition  to  the  other 
difficulties  in  carrying  out  his  contract.  No  wonder  many 
professional  accountants,  after  one  or  two  such  experiences, 
decUne  to  undertake  reorganization  of  municipal  affairs  except 
under  per  diem  rates  or  other  peculiarly  favorable  conditions. 

It  would  be  impracticable  within  the  limits  of  a  paper  of  this 


HARVEY  S.  CHASE 


339 


character  to  touch  upon  all  of  the  complicated  matters  which 
require  the  accountant's  attention  in  any  municipality's  accounts, 
even  in  those  of  a  small  city. 

I  must  therefore  confine  attention  to  the  more  important 
problems  and  of  these  the  budget  or  appropriation  bill  is  the 
primary  one.  You  are  doubtless  familiar  with  the  nature  of  a 
"budget,"  although  the  important  part  which  it  plays  in 
establishing  municipal  accounting  classifications  may  not  be  so 
clear  to  you. 

The  budget  for  the  new  fiscal  year  should  be  prepared  as  close 
to  the  beginning  of  the  year  as  possible.  It  should  be  prepared 
either  by  the  outgoing  city  government  prior  to 
The  Budget  the  beginning  of  the  new  year  or  by  the  incom- 
ing city  government  immediately  after  the 
beginning  of  the  year.  The  first  method  is  preferable.  The 
budget  is  based  on  estimates  made  by  the  heads  of  the  depart- 
ments and  these  estimates  should  be  furnished  promptly  and 
in  complete  detail  with  comparisons  showing  the  necessity  for 
increases,  if  such  are  asked  for.  The  reorganization  and  reclas- 
sification of  a  city's  accounts  should  be  undertaken  at  the  same 
time  as  the  preparation  of  the  budget,  and  the  final  form  of  the 
budget  as  passed  by  the  city  council  should  follow  the  new 
classification.  When  enacted  along  these  lines  the  arrangements 
of  the  accounts  upon  the  city  auditor's  and  city  treasurer's 
books  necessarily  follow  the  new  classification  and  a  minimum 
of  trouble  is  incurred.  When,  however,  reorganization  of  a 
city's  accounts  occurs  in  the  middle  of  a  fiscal  year  very  con- 
siderable difficulties  are  encountered  in  changing  the  classifica- 
tion and  rearranging  the  balances  of  appropriations. 

The  first  classification  of  a  citj^'s  accounts  upon  the  schedules 
proposed  by  the  National  Municipal  League  was  published  in 
the  city  auditor's  report  of  Newton,  Massachusetts,  covering 
the  fiscal  year  1900.  With  this  starting  point  the  classifica- 
tion has  extended  all  over  the  country,  first  through  the 
adoption  of  it  by  the  city  comptroller  of  Baltimore;  then  by 
the  city  of  Chicago  so  far  as  practicable  under  the  laws  of 
Illinois;  then  by  Cambridge  and  various  other  cities  in  Massa- 
chusetts; next  by  adoption  of  these  schedules  and  the  application 


340 


MUNICIPAL  ACCOUNTING 


of  them  in  all  of  the  cities  in  the  State  of  Ohio ;  later  by  applica- 
tion to  the  forms  of  report  of  all  the  cities  of  the  State  of  New 
York  (other  than  New  York  City  and  Buffalo) ;  then  finally  by 
the  United.  States  census  in  its  reports  upon  all  cities  through- 
out the  country.  The  latest  form  of  the  summary  schedules 
is  now  presented  in  a  volume  issued  by  the  department  which 
compiles  financial  statistics  for  the  cities  and  towns  of  Massa- 
chusetts. 

It  is  exceedingly  interesting  to  compare  the  development  of 
the  original  schedule  through  all  the  evolution  which  has  gone  on 
during  the  past  ten  years,  which  has  resulted 
Massachusetts'  in  the  admirable  comparative  tables  now  pre- 
Progress  pared  by  the  Census  Bureau  and  by  the  Massa- 

chusetts Municipal  Statistics  department,  and 
by  similar  departments  in  other  states.  In  Massachusetts  it 
required  three  years  of  agitation  in  successive  legislatures  before 
an  act  could  be  obtained  requiring  the  cities  and  towns  to  report 
to  a  state  official  annually  upon  uniform  schedules  prepared 
by  that  officer.  This  act  was  drafted  by  the  writer  and  was 
finally  passed  in  1906.  A  concerted  attempt  is  now  being  made 
in  Massachusetts  to  enlarge  the  powers  of  the  state  board, 
making  it  a  "local  government  board"  and  giving  it  authority 
over  issuance  of  loans  by  cities  as  well  as  mandatory  power 
over  methods  of  accounting  and  reporting. 

During  the  past  ten  years  "uniform"  classification  of  the 
revenues  and  of  the  expenses  of  municipalities  in  the  manner 
herein  indicated  has  become  standardized  and  well  established. 
Comparatively  few  changes  may  be  expected  in  these  classifica- 
tions hereafter. 

The  next  important  step,  which  has  so  far  been  undertaken 
by  but  few  cities,  is  the  classification  of  accounts  for  a  muni- 
cipal balance  sheet,  which  is  a  statement  of 
The  Balance       assets  and  UabiUties  at  the  end  of  the  month. 
Sheet  year,  or  other  fiscal  period.    The  same  tenta- 

tive steps  must  be  taken  and  the  same  gradual 
development  gone  through  with  in  this  matter  as  was  done  in 
the  classification  of  revenue  and  expense.  A  considerable  step 
has  been  taken  during  the  past  year  in  the  reorganization  of  the 


HARVEY  S.  CHASE 


341 


accoimting  methods  of  the  City  of  New  Bedford,  Massachusetts, 
in  the  form  of  balance  sheet  which  is  now  published  monthly 
by  the  city  auditor.  This  is  the  element  of  present  day  "con- 
version" which  is  most  interesting  to  accountants  and  students 
of  municipal  affairs,  and  I  will  therefore  elaborate  it  at  some 
length. 

The  actual  processes  of  the  new  methods  of  accounting  in 
New  Bedford  are  as  follows:  The  invoices  received  by  the  de- 
partments are  verified  and  approved  by  the  heads  of  those 
departments  and  sent  to  the  city  auditor  prior  to  the  tenth  of 
the  following  month.  These  invoices  are  taken  up  by  the  city 
auditor,  properly  classified  and  distributed,  passed  upon  by  the 
various  committees  of  the  council  and  authorized  for  payment. 
The  total  audit  for  the  month  is  credited  by  the  auditor  to  an 
"audits  payable"  account  in  his  general  ledger  and  charged  to 
the  various  departments.  When  the  treasurer  pays  the  amounts 
of  these  invoices  on  orders  from  the  auditor  his  payments  are 
set  up  on  daily  sheets,  classified  in  columns  by  funds.  At  the 
end  of  the  day  these  sheets  are  verified,  totaled  and  approved, 
and  duplicate  sent  to  the  city  auditor  who  enters  these  pay- 
ments to  the  debit  of  audits  payable  and  to  the  credit  of  the 
treasurer.  In  the  same  way  cash  receipts  which  reach  the 
treasurer's  office  are  entered  upon  daily  sheets,  classified  by  funds 
in  columns,  and  also  classified  by  the  various  sources  of  receipts 
which  are  printed  on  the  sheet  at  the  left,  each  line  representing 
one  source.  At  the  end  of  the  day,  verification  having  been 
made,  the  totals  of  the  columns,  each  pertaining  to  one  fund, 
are  taken  up  on  the  city  treasurer's  books  and  a  duplicate  sheet 
is  sent  to  the  city  auditor,  where  the  items  are  taken  up  in  the 
latter's  books,  not  by  funds,  but  by  the  sources  of  the  receipts. 
In  this  way  an  exact  verification  of  cash  is  kept  between  the 
city  treasurer's  office  and  the  city  auditor's  office,  although  the 
classifications  both  of  cash  receipts  and  of  cash  disbursements 
are  quite  different  in  the  two  offices.  In  one  case,  the  treasurer, 
these  classifications  are  related  only  to  funds,  while  in  the  other 
case,  the  auditor,  the  classification  relates  to  sources  of  revenue 
and  to  purposes  of  expenditure.  In  both  city  treasurer's  and 
city  auditor's  offices  the  items  from  the  daily  sheets  are  entered 


342 


MUNICIPAL  ACCOUNTING 


upon  recapitulation  sheets  which  cover  all  the  working  days  of 
a  month.  Only  the  totals  of  these  recapitulation  sheets  are 
journalized  and  entered  in  the  ledgers  at  the  end  of  the  month. 
The  new  methods  thus  require  a  minimum  of  time  in  book- 
keeping while  providing  also  satisfactory  means  for  constant 
verifications  between  the  two  offices. 

The  "monthly  statement"  of  the  city  auditor  of  New  Bed- 
ford, which  is  regularly  printed  and  laid  before  the  council, 


other  revenues  uncollected,  dues  from  the  Commonwealth,  cash 
in  general  fund  and  other  funds,  balances  to  be  provided  for 
from  future  issues  of  loans,  etc. 

The  current  liabilities  include:  Accounts  payable,  which  con- 
sist of  temporary  tax  loans,  audits  payable,  payrolls  payable, 
deposits,  etc.,  balances  of  special  funds,  balances  of  non-revenue 
appropriations  (from  loans)  balances  of  revenue  appropriations 
(from  revenue)  and  reserves  against  uncollectible  taxes. 

Capital  assets  include:  Ledger  accounts  of  costs  or  assessors' 
estimates,  of  city  properties,  new  constructions  authorized  by 
appropriations,  but  not  yet  provided  for  by  actual  issuance  of 
loans,  water  works  property,  etc. 

Capital  liabilities  consist  of  loans  and  bonds  outstanding, 
balances  of  trust  funds  which  were  used  for  general  capital 
purposes  and  upon  which  interest  is  paid  by  the  city  annually, 
loans  authorized  by  appropriation,  but  as  yet  unissued,  and 
finally  a  general  balancing  account  called  "excess  of  public 
property. " 

In  the  Census  Bulletin  "Statistics  of  Cities,  1906,"  published 
in  1908,  on  pages  27,  28  and  29,  a  modified  form  of  the  New  Bed- 
ford balance  sheet  is  given  (Schedule  II)  with  critical  comment 
thereon  from  which  I  may  quote  as  follows: 

Balance  Sheet  of  New  Bedford,  Mass.  A  specimen  of  this 
last-mentioned  form  of  balance  sheet  is  here  presented  for  the 


Analysis  of 
Auditor's 
Balance  Sheet 


contains  on  its  first  page*  a  trial  balance  con- 
sisting, first,  of  current  assets  and  current  liabili- 
ties and,  second,  of  capital  assets  and  liabilities. 
The  current  assets   include  taxes  uncollected, 


'See  Schedule  i  herewith. 


HARVEY  S.  CHASE 


343 


city  of  New  Bedford,  Mass.  *  *  *  From  such  a  monthly 
statement  for  April  30,  1908,  the  Bureau  of  the 
New  Bedford's  Census  has  compiled  a  triple  form  of  balance 
Balance  Sheet  sheet  for  the  date  mentioned.  In  arranging  the 
balance  sheet  as  indicated  the  Bureau  has  had  the 
cooperation  of  Mr.  Harvey  S.  Chase,  under  whose  direction  and 
supervision  the  city  of  New  Bedford  made  during  1908  many 
important  changes  and  improvements  in  its  accounts  and 
reports.    *    *  * 

Current  Liabilities  of  New  Bedford.  The  foregoing  balance 
sheet  of  New  Bedford  separates  current  debt  liabilities  into 
three  general  classes  (i)  those  "authorized  but  unincurred,"  (2) 
those  "incurred  but  not  accrued,"  and  (3)  those  "outstand- 
ing;" that  is,  "authorized  and  outstanding."  The  authorized 
but  unincurred  liabilities  are  divided  into  four  general  classes — 
those  arising,  respectively,  from  "general  revenue  appropria- 
tions, "  "special  revenue  appropriations,"  "trust  appropriations," 
and  "appropriations  for  buildings  and  public  improvements" — 
the  general  character  of  which  has  already  been  set  forth  at 
length.  In  cities  authorizing  local  improvements  to  be  met 
from  special  assessments,  and  in  those  making  much  use  of  special 
assessments,  a  fifth  subdivision  of  authorized  but  unincurred 
liabilities  would  be  carried  in  the  accounts,  which  might  very 
properly  be  given  the  designation  "special  assessment  appropria- 
tions. " 

The  current  outstanding  debt  liabilities,  or  debts,  are  separ- 
ated into  two  divisions — -"accounts  payable"  and  "revenue  bills 
payable."  The  first  five  items  under  the  first  head  are  in  the 
nature  of  private  or  quasi-private  trust  liability  balances,  and 
the  last  one  is  on  account  of  public  trusts  for  a  non-municipal 
use.  The  license  fees  due  the  commonwealth  may  be  considered 
as  similar  in  all  respects  to  an  account  payable  in  a  private  busi- 
ness, or  to  a  credit  balance  in  a  quasi-private  trust  account. 

The  first  two  items  under  "revenue  bills  pay- 
Current  Assets  able ' '  are  properly  included  under  that  general 
and  Liabilities    designation.    The  character  of  the  amounts 

included  in  the  city's  monthly  statement  or 
"trial  balance"  under  the  designation  "audits  payable"  is  not 
fully  known.  So  far  as  those  amounts  represent  outstanding 
warrants,  they  are  properly  included  under  the  head  of  "bills 
payable, "  but  so  far  as  they  represent  audits  for  which  no  finan- 
cial warrants  or  bills  have  been  issued,  they  are  "accounts 
payable. " 

Current  Assets  of  New  Bedford.  The  current  assets  of  New 
Bedford  are  separated  in  the  balance  sheet  into  three  subdi- 
visions— "assets  authorized  but  not  accrued,"  "assets  accrued 


344 


MUNICIPAL  ACCOUNTING 


but  not  collected,"  and  "cash,"  corresponding  in  a  general  way 
to  the  division  of  liabilities  which  would  exist  were  "audits 
payable"  made  a  class  of  HabiUties  by  themselves. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  fiscal  year  the  first-mentioned  sub- 
division of  assets  was  the  largest,  the  second  containing  only 
small  amounts  of  uncollected  revenues  of  prior  years.  With 
the  levying  of  the  general  property  tax  the  authorized  revenues 
were  credited  and  the  accrued  revenues  debited  with  the  "taxes 
of  1908."  Later,  by  the  collection  of  sundry  revenues,  the 
authorized  revenues  were  credited  with  further  amounts,  and 
the  only  authorized  revenues  not  accrued  were  the  miscellaneous 
revenues  expected  during  the  year,  but  not  collected  prior  to 
April  30.  The  other  current  assets  ' '  authorized  but  not  accrued ' ' 
consisted  of  the  proceeds  of  loans  provided  for  financing  the 
public  buildings  and  improvements  authorized  by  appropriation 
acts. 

In  cities  making  use  of  special  assessments  to  meet  current 
expenses  or  outlays,  the  division  of  the  balance  sheet  here 
designated  "revenues  receivable"  would  include  the  amount  of 
all  special  assessments  levied  but  not  collected,  whether  the 
same  are  due  and  payable  in  the  current  or  in  some  future  year. 
The  accrued  but  not  collected  revenues  shown  as  assets,  if 
properly  set  forth  in  the  accounts,  should  represent  the  amounts 
which  will  in  all  probability  be  received  from  their  collection. 
Their  aggregate  debit  entries  should  be  balanced  in  part  with 
offsets  to  allow  for  abatements  and  uncollectible  taxes.  If  these 
offsets  vary  materially  from  the  actual  amount  of  accrued 
revenue  that  will  not  be  collected,  the  balance  sheet  is  not  a  true 
statement  of  conditions.  The  correctness  of  the  sheet,  and  thus 
the  administrative  value  of  the  summary,  depends  upon  the 
good  judgment  and  good  faith  employed  in  preparing  estimates 
of  uncollectible  taxes  as  offsets  to  accrued  revenues. 

The  laws  of  Massachusetts  permit  cities  such  as  New  Bedford 
to  use  any  money  in  the  treasury  for  meeting  any  authorized 
expenditures.  As  a  result,  most  cities  in  that  state  actually 
keep  but  one  fund,  and  special  and  trust  accounts  are  not  kept 
with  special  and  trust  fund  balances,  but  merely  represent  the 
debt  liabiUties  which  exist  by  reason  of  the  special  and  trust 
accovmts.  New  Bedford  has  merged  the  greater  number  of  its 
funds  into  one,  but  still  separates  the  cash  of  two  trust  funds 
from  other  cash.  With  other  laws  governing  the  action  of  its 
officials,  the  city  would  have  to  carry  the  balance  of  all  moneys 
received  for  special  and  trust  funds  separate  and  distinct  from 
the  fimd  for  general  purposes.    *   *  * 

Additional  Division  of  Current  Assets  and  Current  Liabilities. 
In  cities  which  by  law  are  compelled  to  maintain  fiinds  for  all 


HARVEY  S.  CHASE 


345 


special  and  trust  accounts,  the  division  of  the  balance  sheet  in 
which  current  assets  and  liabilities  are  presented  may  properly 
be  subdivided  rather  than  kept  as  a  single  account,  as"  is  pre- 
sented for  New  Bedford. 

Gross  and  Net  Fixed  or  Funded  Debt.  In  recording  or  sum- 
marizing accounts  with  municipal  indebtedness  the  accounts  and 

summaries  should  be  in  a  form  which  will  make 
The  Funded  them  of  the  greatest  service,  not  only  to  the 
Debt  administrative  officials  of  the  city  but  to  all 

others  concerned  in  the  municipal  management, 
namely,  the  taxpayers  and  the  purchasers  of  municipal  securities. 
Municipal  indebtedness  is  readily  separable,  as  has  already  been 
pointed  out,  into  two  principal  classes — current  and  funded  or 
fixed.  The  current  debts,  as  all  other  current  liabilities,  are  best 
shown  in  the  summary  of  current  assets  and  liabilities  in  their 
relations  to  the  resources  by  which  they  are  to  be  met.  The 
funded  or  fixed  debts  are  best  shown  in  a  section  by  themselves 
in  connection  with  an  exhibit  of  the  assets  provided  for  meet- 
ing them.  The  section  of  the  balance  sheet  arranged  for  this 
purpose  should  be  made  to  include  all  data  needed  to  show 
the  relation  of  the  funded  or  fixed  debt,  and  of  its  several 
parts,  to  the  limitations  placed  upon  the  municipal  borrowing 
power. 

The  fixed  debt  is  separated  in  the  balance  sheet  into  four 
classes.  The  first  of  these  is  that  of  the  indebtedness  on  account 
of  the  water-supply  system.  In  Massachusetts,  and  in  many 
other  states,  such  debts  are  by  law  not  included  in  the  funded 
or  fixed  debts  which  affect  the  borrowing  power  of  cities.  The 
reason  for  this  exclusion  is  that  the  water-supply  systems  are 
expected  to  be  self-sustaining,  and  by  their  earning  power  to 
constitute  an  asset  for  meeting  the  debt  incurred  for  their  con- 
struction or  acquisition.  By  this  exemption  the  water-supply 
debt  is  constructively  provided  with  a  special  asset  equal  to  the 
excess  of  the  water  debt  over  the  cash  and  investments  of  the 
water  sinking  fund.  This  practical  recognition  in  the  statutes 
of  the  earning  power  of  the  water-supply  system  is  expressed  in 
the  accompanying  balance  sheet  for  New  Bedford  by  making 
the  water-supply  system  a  constructive  asset  to  the  amount 
specified.  This  asset  and  the  cash  and  investments  of  the  water 
sinking  fund  balance  the  water  debt.  If  there  had  been  other 
fixed  or  funded  debts  subject  to  similar  exemptions  in  the  com- 
putation of  net  indebtedness,  they  would  have  been  separated 
and  shown  in  the  same  way  in  the  same  division  of  the  balance 
sheet.  In  Massachusetts  cities  some  five  or  six  different  classes 
of  these  exempted  debts  are  met  with,  but  so  far  as  known  only 
the  one  mentioned  exists  in  New  Bedford.    *    *  * 


346 


MUNICIPAL  ACCOUNTING 


The  Relation  of  Indebtedness  to  Governmental  Property  and 
Funds.  Attention  has  already  been  called  to  the  fact  that  under 
the  laws  the  permanent  property  and  public  improvements  of 
cities  and  other  civil  divisions  do  not  bear  the 
Indebtedness  same  legal  relation  to  indebtedness  as  do  the 
and  Property  fixed  properties  of  private  enterprises.  They 
are  resources  for  certain  governmental  purposes, 
but  not  of  the  financial  business  of  governments,  and  hence 
are  not  even  constructively  assets,  except  in  the  case  of  water- 
supply  systems  and  other  specified  properties,  where  by  reason 
of  their  character  they  are  made  a  legal  offset  to  the  debts 
incurred  in  their  acquisition.  The  same  statement  holds  true 
of  the  principal  of  public  trust  funds  for  governmental  uses, 
which  are  funds  appropriated  for  the  uses  specified,  as  are  the 
properties  and  public  improvements.  While,  however,  these 
properties,  public  improvements,  and  funds  are  not  "assets"  in 
the  commercial  sense  of  that  term,  they  have  an  important 
relation  from  the  standpoint  of  both  business  and  accotmting 
to  the  public  debt.  They  have  been  acqtiired  in  part  by  the 
use  of  money  obtained  from  these  debts,  and  the  administrative 
requirements  of  good  government  make  it  necessary  that  these 
properties  and  public  improvements  should  be  brought  and 
kept  under  accotmting  control,  and  that  the  accounts  should  be 
so  kept  as  to  disclose  the  present  and  prospective  relations 
between  the  values  of  properties,  pubUc  improvements,  and 
public  funds  and  the  public  indebtedness.  This  relation  is 
shown  for  New  Bedford  by  the  third  division  of  the  balance 
sheet,  which  is  arranged  primarily  to  show  the  condition  existing 
at  the  close  of  the  year,  when  all  the  authorized  constructions 
and  loans  have  materialized.  It  includes  the  amount  of  unap- 
propriated assets  brought  forward  from  division  one,  the  net 
indebtedness  of  division  two,  and  the  value  of  the  property, 
public  improvements,  and  funds  not  presented  in  these  divisions. 
The  balance  is  the  net  contribution  to  or  the  proprietary  interest 
of  the  taxpayer  in  the  properties,  improvements,  and  funds  of 
the  city  at  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year  on  the  basis  of  the  authori- 
zations stated  in  the  balance  sheet. 

The  balance  sheet  presented  is  not  an  accurate  statement  of 
the  present  or  prospective  financial  condition  of  the  city,  since 
it  makes  no  allowance  for  past  or  current  depreciation  in  the 
value  of  public  properties  and  improvements.  It  is,  however, 
arranged  so  as  to  show  how  accounts  with  current  depreciation 
should  be  treated  in  a  balance  sheet,  and  thus  enable  it  to  be 
prepared  in  such  a  form  that  it  will  become  a  true  exhibit  of 
the  present  and  future  financial  condition  of  the  city  govern- 
ment.   *    *  * 


HARVEY  S.  CHASE 


347 


To  'secure  correct  monthly  statements  and  provide  informa- 
tion relating  to  the  governmental  financial  condition  that  shall 
be  of  value  to  any  one  of  the  three  classes  of  people  just  men- 
tioned, the  accounts  and  balance  sheets  of  the  city  must  pro- 
vide for  a  proper  presentation  of  all  the  facts  whose  records  are 
summarized  in  the  accompanying  statement  for  New  Bedford.' 

The  importance  of  the  municipal  balance  sheet  and  of  monthly 
statements  derived  therefrom  is  sufficiently  established  by  the 
quotations  from  the  Census  report. 

To  the  development  of  such  statements  along  the  lines  so  well 
laid  down  by  Mr.  Powers  must  the  attention  of  accountants  be 
given  in  the  future  until  satisfactory  standard  forms  for  such 
statements  are  devised  and  installed  in  all  municipalities. 

These  results  will  be  finally  attained  probably  through  the 
instrumentality  of  "Uniform  Accounting  Boards"  of  the  various 
states  under  the  leadership  of  the  Census  Bureau,  assisted  by 
expert  accountants  and  others  who  have  had  experience  and 
have  given  careful  attention  to  these  subjects. 

'  Note  :  Copies  of  this  balance  sheet  can  be  had  upon  application  to  the 
City  Auditor  of  New  Bedford  or  of  Mr.  Chase. — Editor. 


The  Present  Status  of  Instruction  in  Munici- 
pal Government  in  the  Universities  and 
Colleges  of  the  United  States' 

By  WILLIAM  BENNETT  MUNRO,  Ph.D. 
Assistant  Professor  of  Government  at  Harvard  University 
Chairman  of  the  Committee 

"It  is  manifest  that  the  instruction  of  the  people,"  wrote 
Thomas  Hobbes  in  his  Leviathan,  "dependeth  wholly  on  the 
right  teaching  of  the  youth  in  the  universities."  The  EngUsh 
philosopher  no  doubt  grossly  overestimated  the  influence  which 
the  institutions  of  higher  education  are  capable  of  exerting  upon 
the  political  ideals  of  a  people;  for  the  universities  and  colleges 
of  the  land  constitute  but  one  of  the  channels, — and  perhaps 
only  one  of  the  minor  channels — through  which  sound  political 
doctrines  may  be  disseminated.  At  the  same  time  it  is  to  be 
remembered  that  the  universities  and  colleges  of  the  United 
States  have  come  to  include  upon  their  rolls  of  attendance  a 
steadily  increasing  proportion  of  the  young  men  and  young 
women  of  the  land;  that  these  do  not  represent  merely  the 
average  run  of  American  youth,  but  an  element  which  is  far 
above  the  general  level  in  intelligence,  ambition,  and  in  the 
promise  of  political  capacity.  It  is  not  alone  a  select  element 
in  the  national  population,  but  an  element  which  is  almost  uni- 
formly made  up  of  individuals  at  the  formative  period  of  life. 
No  one  with  experience  in  collegiate  teaching,  if  he  be  at  all  observ- 
ant, can  fail  to  notice  the  extremely  plastic  nature  of  the  under- 
graduate mind,  its  entire  receptivity,  and^  its  wholly  undiscrim- 
inating  acceptance  of  what  may  be  laid  before  it.    It  is  at  this 


'  Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Coordination  of  Instruction  in  Muni- 
cipal Government. 

(348) 


WILLIAM  BENNETT  MUNRO 


349 


stage  more  than  at  any  other  that  a  man's  general  attitude 
toward  political,  social  and  economic  questions  is  apt  to  be 
definitely  framed.  Impressions  made  at  this  stage  usually  sink 
deep,  and  can  be  eradicated  only  with  slowness  and  difficulty. 

The  task  of  the  teacher  of  political  science  is  therefore  one  of 
extreme  responsibility  and  is  the  embodiment  of  an  unusual 
opportunity.  It  is  the  privilege  of  such  teachers 
The  Task  of  to  afford  annually  to  thousands  of  young  men, 
the  Teacher  drawn  from  the  best  homes  in  the  land,  their 
first  definite  impressions  concerning  the  nature 
of  the  state  and  the  workings  of  its  administrative  organs.  This 
is  a  high  privilege  and  presents  an  opportunity  for  influence  such 
as  is  given  to  but  few  professions.  But  the  privilege  is  not  more 
than  commensurate  with  the  responsibility  involved;  for  upon 
the  zeal  and  capabilities  of  the  instructor  will  depend  in  large 
measure  the  extent  to  which  the  student's  interest  in  the  affairs 
of  government  will  be  aroused,  the  attitude  which  he  will  assume 
toward  the  problems  of  government  when  he  goes  out  into  the 
world,  and  the  fund  of  useful  information  which  he  will  be  able 
to  turn  to  account  in  fulfilling  the  duties  of  active  citizenship. 

It  was  with  these  features  in  mind  that  the  National  Municipal 
League  estabhshed,  some  years  ago,  its  Committee  on  Instruc- 
tion, and  entrusted  to  this  body  the  task  of  securing  such  coopera- 
tion among  teachers  of  municipal  government  as  might  prove 
possible,  as  well  as  such  coordination  of  instruction  in  this  sub- 
ject as  the  varying  character  of  different  universities  and  colleges 
might  permit.  It  was  hoped  that  by  mutual  interchange  of 
views  between  instructors  engaged  in  this  work  the  efficiency  of 
the  instruction  might  be  increased,  and  that  the  successful  experi- 
ence of  each  teacher  might  be  made  to  serve  the  profit  of  all. 

This  task,  the  committee  hopes,  has  been  in 
The  League's  some  degree  accompHshed.  It  has  not  been  the 
Committee  committee's  aim  to  advocate  any  definite  system 
on  the  or  method  of  instruction  in  municipal  govern- 

Coordination  ment,  much  less  to  carry  on  a  propaganda 
of  Instruction  for  any  political  principles.  On  the  contrary 
it  has  consistently  recognized  that  the  scope  of 
instruction  must  relate  itself  to  the  resources  of  the  university 


3  so        INSTRUCTION  IN  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

which  undertakes  it ;  that  the  methods  of  instruction  must  relate 
themselves  to  the  tastes  and  capabilities  of  the  instructor  who 
imparts  it ;  and  that  when  instruction  ceases  to  be  a  scientific  and 
impartial  presentation  of  facts,  conditions  and  problems  and 
becomes  the  vehicle  of  any  propaganda  it  forthwith  loses  its  chief 
claim  to  the  consideration  of  scholars.  The  chief  work  of  the 
committee  has  been,  therefore,  not  the  advocacy  of  any  principle 
or  practice;  but  the  collection  of  such  data  as  might  seem  to 
be  of  service  to  teachers  and  the  placing  of  this  at  the  disposal 
of  those  whom  it  might  interest. 

It  was  in  keeping  with  this  general  policy  that,  during  the  past 
year,  an  elaborate  inquiry  was  conducted  with  a  view  to  finding 
out  just  how  much  instruction  in  the  subject  of  municipal 
government  is  actually  undertaken  by  the  different  universities 
and  colleges  of  the  United  States,  whether  in  special  courses 
devoted  wholly  to  this  particular  field  or  as  part  of  the  general 
programs  of  instruction  in  poUtical  science.  To  this  end  circular 
questionaires  were  addressed  to  more  than  200  such  institutions 
situated  in  every  part  of  the  Union  and  including  educational 
establishments  of  every  grade,  from  the  largest  universities  down 
to  the  smallest  rural  colleges.  Information  was  sought  as  to 
the  number  of  independent  courses  in  municipal  government 
afforded  by  each  institution;  the  number  of  students,  under- 
graduate and  graduate,  enrolled  in  such  classes;  the  amount  of 
time  devoted  to  this  particular  subject  in  connection  with  the 
general  courses  on  sociology,  economics,  or  government;  the 
number  of  students  who  receive  the  benefit  of  this  instruction; 
the  scope  of  the  diflEerent  courses  (e.g.,  whether  confined  to 
American  cities  or  including  European  as  well) ;  the  methods  of 
instruction,  whether  by  lectures,  recitations,  or  other  means; 
the  opportunities  afforded  to  students  for  investigating  actual 
municipal  machinery  or  for  taking  some  part  in  active  politics — 
on  these  and  a  variety  of  Like  matters  the  committee  sought 
precise  information.  On  the  whole  the  response  was  ready  and 
cheerful;  replies  were  had  from  over  160  institutions,  and  with 
these  as  a  basis  the  committee  has  been  able  to  obtain  an  accurate 
idea  concerning  the  status  of  instruction  in  the  country  as  a 
whole. 


WILLIAM  BENNETT  MUNRO 


351 


In  the  first  place  the  inquiries  of  the  committee  have  served 
clearly  to  establish  the  fact  that  during  the  last  decade  or  more, 
Marked  ^  marked  development  of  the  subject  has  taken 

place  in  the  programs  of  educational  institu- 

.  tions.    Ten  or  fifteen  years  ago,  independent 

Special  Courses  .    ^     ^.  v-^r  -i 

^  instruction  in  the  subject  of  municipal  govern- 

ment was  affored  in  only  three  or  four  of  the  largest  universities 
of  the  country,  and  here,  moreover,  it  was  regarded  as  a  field  of 
study  for  the  specially  qualified,  not  for  the  ordinary  under- 
graduate. At  the  present  time,  however,  independent  and  dis- 
tinct instruction  is  given  at  more  than  forty  universities  and 
colleges,  and  the  number  seems  to  be  steadily  on  the  increase. 
The  University  of  Chicago  now  provides  7  distinct  semester 
courses  on  different  aspects  on  municipal  government;  other 
large  institutions  of  the  Middle  West  afford  from  one  to  four 
courses  each.  No  Eastern  university  provides  more  than  a 
single  distinct  course  in  the  subject ;  and  some  of  them  do  not 
offer  even  this.  Many  Eastern  colleges,  however,  are  under- 
taking work  in  this  special  direction,  and  intimation  has  come 
to  the  committee  that  others  are  planning  steps  in  the  same 
direction.  President  Reed  of  Dickinson  College,  Pa.,  writes  to 
state  his  conviction  "that  a  good  strong  independent  course 
in  municipal  affairs  would  be  of  vast  advantage  to  American 
students,"  and  expresses  the  hope  that  one  may  be  established 
shortly  in  his  institution.  Chancellor  McCormick  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pittsburgh  reports  that  he  is  "preparing  to  give  thorough 
instruction  in  this  important  branch  next  year,"  and  encourag- 
ing reports  to  the  same  effect  have  been  received  by  the  com- 
mittee from  a  number  of  other  institutions.  Indeed  there  seems 
to  be  every  reason  for  thinking  that  the  next  decade  will  witness 
a  more  rapid  extension  of  collegiate  interest  in  this  subject  than 
that  which  has  marked  the  past  ten  years. 

Owing  to  the  Hmited  nature  of  their  resources,  many  insti- 
tutions have  not  found  it  possible  to  establish  independent 
instruction  in  municipal  government,  but  endeavor  to  have 
this  subject  dealt  with  in  connection  with  their  general  courses  in 
political  science,  sociology,  or  economics.  Courses  in  American 
government,  if  they  are  at  all  comprehensive  in  scope,  must 


352        INSTRUCTION  IN  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 


deal  to  some  extent  with  the  government  of  cities.  Instruction 
in  public  finance  must  to  some  extent  lead  the  student  into  the 
field  of  municipal  taxation,  expenditures  and  loans.  The  field 
of  sociology  and  social  ethics  include  many  matters  directly 
connected  with  the  efficiency  of  civic  administration  and  par- 
ticularly with  the  exercise  of  the  city's  police  power.  The 
committee  has  not,  however,  sought  to  follow  up  all  this  inci- 
dental instruction,  but  has  endeavored  simply  to  find  out  how 
much  attention  is  given  to  municipal  government  in  the  regular 
courses  upon  the  science  of  government  in  general.  Almost 

every  university  and  college  in  the  country 
Incidental  has  one  or  more  courses  of  this  nature  and  the 

Instruction        time  allotted  to  municipal  government  varies 

from  two  to  thirty  exercises  per  year.  The 
emphasis  which  instructors  are  placing  on  this  branch  of  the 
general  field  is  evidently  growing  as  shown  by  the  replies  to 
the  committee's  circular,  and  the  instructors  find  that,  from 
the  student's  standpoint,  this  phase  of  the  work  proves  highly 
interesting.  In  a  number  of  colleges  instructors  have  intimated 
their  intention  of  giving  more  time  to  this  branch  in  view  of 
"the  increasing  importance  of  the  city  in  the  general  system 
of  American  government."  With  most  of  the  smaller  institu- 
tions, however,  the  question  is  merely  one  of  financial  resources: 
the  desirability  of  more  instruction  is  fully  recognized,  but  as 
in  many  cases  only  one  instructor  is  provided  for  the  whole 
field  of  government,  he  must  necessarily  decentralize  his  energies 
over  a  broad  field. 

Wherever  special  instruction  in  municipal  administration  is 
afforded,  it  has  apparently  proved  its  popularity  with  the  student 
__    .  .    ,  body.    The  largest  single  class  in  the  subject  is 

Instruction  Yale  University,  where  Prof.  W.  B. 

Po  ular  with  Bailey's  course  has  a  total  enrollment  of  431 
Students  students,  but  the  courses  in  this  subject  at  the 

University  of  Chicago  numbered  166  last  year 
and  of  this  number  over  80  were  graduates.  The  course  in 
municipal  government  at  Harvard  numbers  regularly  about  100, 
while  some  half  dozen  other  institutions  report  an  attendance  of 
from  50  to  75  students  in  special  courses  of  this  nature.  This 


WILLIAM  BENNETT  MUNRO 


353 


of  course  does  not  include  the  large  bodies  of  undergraduates 
who  receive  a  smaller  or  larger  amount  of  instruction  in  connec- 
tion with  the  general  courses  of  political  study.  The  number  of 
these  latter  runs  well  up  into  the  thousands,  and  affords  an 
adequate  proof  that  the  study  of  political  science,  so  far  as  its 
attractiveness  to  the  students  is  concerned,  is  quite  capable  of 
holding  its  own. 

The  methods  of  instruction  show  no  approach  to  uniformity. 
Some  instructors  conduct  their  classes  wholly  by  lectures ;  others 
No  A    roach  recitations.    Some  combine  both  methods, 

to  Unifonnitv     ^^^y  require  each  student  to  present  a  thesis 
■«»  X,   J         or  essay  embodying  the  results  of  personal 
in  Methods  of    .       ^.  \.      ■  .  .         r  , 

Instruction         investigation  into  some  phase  of  the  work. 

Where  the  university  is  situated  in  a  large  city 
this  is  a  practicable  and  highly  useful  form  of  student  training ; 
but  as  many  instructors  point  out,  the  rural  location  of  an  insti- 
tution frequently  precludes  any  effective  use  of  this  method. 
One  instructor  has  solved  this  difficulty  by  requiring  each  student 
to  present  a  "vacation  report"  including  the  results  of  an  investi- 
gation made  during  the  Christmas  or  Easter  vacations  and  based 
upon  data  gathered  by  the  student  in  his  own  city  or  a  city 
allotted  to  him  for  study.  A  very  comprehensive  study  of  the 
New  York  police  system  is  to  be  undertaken  by  a  dozen  stu- 
dents of  Williams  College  during  the  coming  Christmas  recess 
under  the  general  direction  of  one  of  the  assistant  commis- 
sioners. Some  instructors  report  a  successful  use  of  class  debates 
on  municipal  questions;  others  have  found  that  the  interest  of 
the  students  may  be  developed  by  informal  class-room  discus- 
sions. In  a  considerable  number  of  instances  it  has  been  found 
entirely  feasible  to  afford  students  some  practical  experience 
in  municipal  politics.  In  Boston  the  students  both  at  Tufts 
and  Harvard  are  given  opportunities  to  serve  as  checkers  and 
watchers  at  the  polls,  and  also  are  utilized  by  the  good  govern- 
ment organizations  in  collecting  data  concerning  candidates. 
Similar  opportunities  are  afforded  to  some  extent  in  New  York, 
Chicago,  Philadelphia,  Cleveland,  Los  Angeles,  and  other  cities. 
In  many  of  the  larger  institutions,  moreover,  there  exist  political 
clubs,  or  in  some  cases  mimicipal  government  clubs,  or  city  clubs. 


3  54        INSTRUCTION  IN  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

and  these  organizations  take  an  active  interest  in  local  politics. 
Many  other  institutions,  however,  are  debarred  by  their  loca- 
tion from  this  form  of  training  for  their  students.  "We  are  a 
country  college,"  writes  one  president,  "and  you  know  what 
handicap  that  impUes. "  Instructors  seem  to  recognize  on  the 
whole  that  actual  contact  with  political  contests,  even  in  some 
very  humble  capacity,  is  very  useful  to  the  undergraduate. 

Attention  is  devoted  by  colleges,  in  the  main,  to  the  study  of 
American  cities;  only  a  few  broaden  their  work  so  as  to  include 

any  study  of  European  city  administration. 
Scope  and  Where  this  latter  field  is  included  it  is  usually 

Methods  of  in  an  elementary  way,  although  in  a  few  insti- 
Study  tutions  nearly  half  the  entire  instruction  is 

devoted  to  this  branch  of  the  subject.  Some 
instructors  find  advantage  in  the  use  of  a  syllabus,  or  out- 
line of  topics  and  references;  but  the  majority  have  not  followed 
this  plan.  The  committee  has  been  able  to  secure  several  of 
these  outlines,  and  has  noted  the  care  with  which  they  have 
evidently  been  prepared  and  the  testimony  which  they  afford  to 
the  substantial  character  of  the  work  done.  One  of  the  very 
best  has  come  from  an  institution  outside  the  bounds  of  the 
United  States — the  University  of  Havana,  where  elaborate 
instruction  in  the  subject  is  provided.  Many  instructors,  on 
the  other  hand,  feel  that  the  use  of  any  extended  syllabus  is 
inadvisable  as  it  tends  to  stereotype  a  course  of  instruction  and 
to  deprive  it  of  that  flexibility  in  method  which  is,  from  many 
points  of  view,  highly  desirable.  In  the  largest  institutions, 
moreover,  the  printed  syllabus  is  sometimes  too  useful  to  the 
professional  tutor  and  the  vendor  of  printed  notes.  The  in- 
structor who  announces,  at  the  beginning  of  his  course,  just 
what  reading  will  be  required  during  the  year,  thereby  seems  to 
lend  encouragement  to  the  preparation  of  printed  summaries. 
This  is  true,  of  course,  only  where  classes  are  large.  As  it  is 
scarcely  practicable  to  print  a  new  syllabus  each  year  the  use 
of  a  syllabus  may  indeed  prove  a  deterrent  to  progress  in  the 
methods  of  instruction  and  may  encourage  an  instructor  to  give 
the  same  lectures  year  after  year.  A  number  of  instructors, 
particularly  in  the  smaller  colleges,  have  suggested  that  the 


WILLIAM  BENNETT  MUNRO 


355 


committee  should  prepare  a  more  or  less  detailed  outline  of  a 
course  on  municipal  government,  embodying  not  only  a  syllabus 
of  lectures  but  bibliographical  apparatus  of  an  elementary  sort, 
lists  of  topics  suitable  for  class  essays,  and  other  like  agenda. 
Such  a  publication  would  of  course  have  its  limitations  of  service ; 
but  it  might  prove  very  helpful  in  many  smaller  institutions 
where  the  study  of  municipal  government  is  tmdertaken  only 
in  an  elementary  way. 

In  discussing  the  status  of  instruction  in  municipal  govern- 
ment at  the  present  time  it  would  scarcely  prove  profitable  to 
present  all  the  details  which  the  committee's  investigations  have 
served  to  disclose.  The  various  data  have  all  been  carefully 
tabulated  and  are  made  available  in  the  appendix  to  this  report. 
It  should  be  stated  that  this  table  does  not  include  statistics  of 
instruction  offered  in  professional  schools,  many  of  which  include 
in  their  curricula  courses  bearing  rather  directly  into  the  broad 
field  of  municipal  administration.  Many  of  the  larger  engineer- 
ing schools  afford  instruction  in  various  phases  of  municipal 
engineering  and  sanitation;  some  law  schools  offer  courses  or 
parts  of  courses  dealing  with  the  subject  of  municipal  corpora- 
tions, their  powers  and  legal  responsibilities;  the  best  equipped 
medical  schools  give  instruction  in  municipal  hygiene  and  the 
protection  of  the  public  health ;  various  schools  for  social  workers 
give  training,  both  theoretical  and  practical,  in  the  meth  ds  of 
municipal  poor  relief,  charities,  and  civic  betterment  in  general, 
while  schools  of  commerce  and  business  administration  devote 
attention  to  municipal  accounting  and  kindred  subjects.  The 
amount  of  instruction  thus  afforded  would,  however,  be  difficult 
to  tabulate  in  any  accurate  form.  The  results  of  the  inquiry 
have  been  distinctly  encouraging  and  show  that  the  outlook 
is  more  promising  than  ever. 

Under  the  committee's  auspices  arrangements  were  made  for 
holding,  in  connection  with  the  annual  meeting  of  the  American 
Political  Science  Association  at  Richmond,  Va.,  a  round  table 
conference  on  the  methods  of  instruction  in  municipal  govern- 
ment. The  conference  was  held  at  the  Hotel  Jefferson,  Rich- 
mond, on  the  morning  of  Thursday,  December  31,  and  was 
well  attended.    Prof.  F.  J.  Goodnow  of  Columbia  University 


356 


INSTRUCTION  IN  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 


opened  the  discussion  with  a  r^sum^  of  his  many  years'  experi- 
ence in  the  teaching  of  the  subject,  giving  his  views  as  to  the 
scope  and  method  of  a  university  course  on  the 
Roxmd  Table  government  of  cities.  The  speaker  emphasized 
Conference  on  his  opinion  that  the  subject  of  mimicipal  govem- 
Methods  of  ment  should  not  be  made  available  to  students 
Instruction  until  they  had  already  obtained  a  grasp  of  compar- 
ative administration  in  general,  and  that  instruc- 
tion in  the  special  subject  should  not  be  open  to  undergraduates 
until  at  least  the  junior  year  of  a  college  course.  The  city  should 
not  be  studied.  Professor  Goodnow  thought,  moreover,  as  an 
isolated  unit,  but  as  a  part  of  the  whole  governmental  machine, 
hence  the  relation  of  the  municipahty  to  the  state  ought  to  be 
a  guiding  thread.  The  speaker  also  felt  that  a  well-organized 
course  on  municipal  government  ought  to  include  a  study  of 
European  cities  in  order  that  the  comparative  method  might  be 
profitably  employed.  Other  matters  such  as  the  nature  of  the 
lectures  to  be  given  by  the  instructor,  the  value  of  thesis  work 
by  students,  and  the  need  of  a  "source  book"  as  an  auxihary  to 
efficient  teaching  were  touched  upon  briefly. 

Prof.  Henry  Jones  Ford  of  Princeton  University  dealt  with  the 
purpose  and  aim  of  instruction  in  mvmicipal  government.  An 
effective  course  in  the  subject  ought  to  be  strictly  disciplinary  in 
its  nature  and  ought  to  train  the  student  in  the  use  of  official  data 
rather  than  set  before  him  a  mass  of  information  in  the  form  of 
lectures.  The  actual  information  which  the  student  carried 
with  him  from  the  class  room  was,  he  believed,  a  consideration 
of  the  very  sUghtest  importance. 

Prof.  J.  W.  Gamer  of  the  University  of  Illinois  discussed  at 
some  length  the  question  as  to  where,  in  a  general  course  of  in- 
struction, the  main  emphasis  should  be  placed.  He  was  not  in 
favor  of  devoting  any  time  to  the  history  of  mvmicipal  insti- 
tutions, and  he  thought,  moreover,  that  too  much  time  was 
generally  devoted  to  the  study  of  mtmicipal  organization,  to  the 
powers  of  the  different  mtmicipal  ofl&cers,  and  to  the  framework 
of  administration.  More  attention  should  be  given,  he  felt,  to 
mvmicipal  functions,  to  the  actual  exercise  of  the  city's  powers, 
and  to  the  economic  aspect  of  the  whole  question. 


WILLIAM  BENNETT  MUNRO 


357 


Prof.  J.  A.  Fairlie  of  the  University  of  Michigan  called  atten- 
tion to  the  striking  utility  of  the  subject  as  a  field  for  inductive 
study.  The  vast  and  heterogeneous  nature  of  the  material 
available  for  the  comparative  study  of  municipal  government 
rendered  this  special  field  particularly  well  suited  to  research  work 
of  an  elementary  sort.  Students  should  be  required  to  examine 
carefully  selected  portions  of  this  material  and  to  present  reports 
embodying  generalizations  drawn  therefrom.  No  other  branch 
of  political  science  affords  better  facilities  for  work  of  this  nature. 

Prof.  W.  W.  Willoughby  of  Johns  Hopkins  University  con- 
tinued the  discussion,  speaking  of  the  place  which  the  study  of 
city  government  ought  to  occupy  in  the  general  political  science 
program. 

It  was  arranged  that  another  round  table  conference  on  the 
same  subject  should  be  held  in  New  York  during  the  last  week  of 
December,  1909. 


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366 


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Some  Fundamental  Municipal  Needs  in 
Pennsylvania 


HON.  GEORGE  W.  GUTHRIE 
Mayor  of  Pittsburgh 


A  distinguished  authority  is  reported  to  have  said  some  time 
ago  that  the  science  of  good  government  Hes  in  the  art  of  being 
honest.  Now  while  we  cannot  overestimate  the  great  impor- 
tance which  honesty  has  in  all  aspects  of  government,  we  should 
not  for  a  moment  believe  that  good  government  consists  simply 
in  being  honest.  It  is  an  essential  element  of  good  government, 
but  there  is  much  more  necessary.  There  must  be  intelligence — 
intelligence  to  appreciate  the  capacity  of  government,  to  aid 
in  the  upUft  of  humanity — intelligence  to  understand  both  what 
government  can  do  and  its  proper  limitations.  There  must  be 
also  a  strong  moral  purpose  to  attain  the  ends  and  accomplish 
the  objects  for  which  our  intelligence  teaches  us  just  govern- 
ments exist,  and  capacity  either  to  do  the  thing  ourselves  or 
to  secure  someone  else  who  will  do  it  well  for  us.  These  two 
things,  joined  with  honesty,  give  good  government.  One  alone, 
however  good  in  itself,  will  accomplish  but  little. 

And  so  when  the  committee  asked  me  to  speak  to  you  tonight 
on  "Some  of  the  Fundamental  Needs  for  Good  Government  in  the 
Cities  of  Pennsylvania"  my  mind  at  once  ran  onto  these  lines: 

"First  we  need  in  the  people  a  knowledge  of  the  meaning  and 
significance  of  municipal  government.  Its  proper  place  in  our 


Government       grown  up  with  it  a  very  false  conception  of 


The  Signifi- 
cance of 
Municipal 


scheme  of  government,  and  its  relation  both  to 
the  people  of  the  city  and  to  the  national  life.  " 
Our  cities  have  grown  up  here  in  a  rapid  way 
and  largely  in  a  haphazard  way  and  there  has 


368    FUNDAMENTAL  MUNICIPAL  NEEDS  IN  PENNSYLVANIA 

We  have  been  taught  from  the  legal  standpoint — and  speak- 
ing from  the  standpoint  of  the  lawyer  it  is  true — that  our  city 
government  is  a  subordinate  function  of  the  state  government. 
Unfortunately  we  have  grown  into  the  habit  of  putting  a  very 
pernicious  word  into  the  statement,  so  as  to  make  it  read  that 
the  city  is  merely  a  subordinate  function  of  the  state  govern- 
ment ;  and  that  has  warped  our  minds — -the  minds  of  the  people — 
as  to  the  significance  and  the  vital  importance  of  our  city  govern- 
ment. 

Now  I  think  that  misconception  is  being  rapidly  corrected. 
There  is  evidence  all  through  this  state,  as  in  the  country  generally, 
that  the  people  are  awakening  to  the  vital  importance  of  their 
city  governments  to  them,  the  state  and  the  nation;  that  what- 
ever their  function  may  be  as  subordinate  departments  of  the 
state  government,  they  are  also  an  expression  of  the  aggregate 
life  of  the  people  who  live  within  the  city. 

The  city  government  is  the  agent  of  the  people  of  the  city 
in  accomplishing  that  for  their  good  which  cannot  be  accom- 
plished by  any  other  agency  which  has  yet  been  discovered; 
and  its  powerful  influence  in  these  fields  cannot  be  overes- 
timated. 

Moreover,  not  only  is  it  the  expression  of  our  aggregate  life — 
of  our  moral  standard — of  our  intellectual  capacity — but  it 
it  is  the  mold  in  which  the  life  of  tomorrow  is  being  run;  and 
what  we  make  of  our  city  today  will  mold  the  life  and  destiny 
of  the  young  people  who  will  tomorrow  take  our  places  and 
rule  the  city.  If  the  standard  of  our  city  is  low — if  the  purpose 
of  our  city  is  debased — if  low  moral  standards  prevail  in  the 
government  of  our  city — there  is  no  human  influence  at  work 
which  will  have  as  potent  an  influence  on  the  moral  standards 
of  the  young  who  are  growing  up  under  its  influences. 

A  very  great  student  of  the  life  of  this  city  and  a  close  observer 
of  it — a  man  who  is  more  in  touch  possibly  with  it  than  any 
other — said  to  me  that  he  did  not  know  any  influence  which  was 
so  pernicious,  which  was  so  destructive  to  the  moral  sense  of 
the  young  men  of  the  city,  as  to  impregnate  them  with  the 
idea  that  there  was  no  honesty,  no  honor,  no  uprightness  in  the 
city  government  or  in  the  men  who  control  it;  that  that  idea, 


GEORGE  W.  GUTHRIE 


369 


when  it  took  root  among  the  young  men,  was  almost  impossible 
to  counteract  and  overcome.    And  the  reverse 
The  Need  of  it  is  true.    Give  them  high  standards — ^liigh 

of  High  ideals.    Let  them  see  that  the  men  that  you 

Standards  call  to  your  offices — the  men  who  represent  the 

aggregate  life  of  your  community,  its  compo- 
site moral  sentiment — represent  a  high  ideal  of  life  and  decency 
and  honor  and  honesty,  and  you  will  do  more  to  influence  the 
young  men  of  this  city  for  good  than  any  other  human  agency 
can  do. 

Now  when  our  people  looked  upon  the  city  as  merely  a  sub- 
ordinate function  of  the  state  government,  the  idea  grew  with 
them  that  the  control  of  its  political  patronage  to  be  used  in 
strengthening  the  party  organization  and  in  rewarding  the  party 
worker — to  encourage  this  man  to  stand  by  the  leader — to 
give  a  job  to  the  man  who  voted  with  the  organization  in  the 
primary  and  at  the  convention — was  a  proper  function  of 
city  government.  Of  course,  because  this  idea  is  in  itself  cor- 
rupt, it  gradually  and  certainly  drew  the  standard  of  our  city 
life  lower  and  lower  and  if  adhered  to  it  is  certain  ultimately  to 
reach  the  lowest  depths. 

Then  we  found  another  evil  coming  from  that  idea.  The 
evil  of  bad  city  government  is  not  and  cannot  be  confined  to 
the  community  involved.  The  debasing,  the  corrupting,  influ- 
ence of  that  idea  in  your  city  is  spreading  through  your  states, 
and  from  your  states  to  your  nation;  and  I  want  to  say  to  you 
in  all  sincerity,  that  if  disaster  ever  comes  to  this  nation 
which  we  love,  it  will  not  come  from  without,  but  it  will  come 
from  the  degrading  of  the  life  of  our  cities  and,  through  that,  the 
life  of  the  whole  country,  till  it  sinks  to  such  a  standard  that 
that  Providence  that  rules  the  world  will  wipe  it  away  as  an 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  growth  and  development  of  humanity. 
There  is  the  only  danger. 

But  the  people  of  this  country  will  never  have  that — they 
will  never  permit  that. 

They  are  awakening  to  the  evil  and  their  duty  in  regard 
to  it,  and  they  are  going  to  have  their  cities  clean;  and  then 
the  stream  of  political  life  that  moves  from  their  cities  into 


3  7o    FUNDAMENTAL  MUNICIPAL  NEEDS  IN  PENNSYLVANIA 


the  national  life  will  be  clean  like  the  source  from  which  it 
springs. 

And  then,  my  friends,  what  more  does  your  city  government 
mean  to  you?  I  am  not  speaking  of  the  wastefulness  of  money 
in  a  dishonest  government.  That  is  bad;  and  the  loss  of  oppor- 
tunity occasioned  by  it  and  the  corrupting  influences  which 
flow  from  it,  are  bad.  But  there  is  worse.  I  refer  to  its  effect 
on  the  life,  the  moral  life  and  the  physical  Ufe,  of  the  people. 
The  safety  of  your  homes  and  your  firesides  from  all  sorts  of 
evil  influences,  not  merely  from  the  robber  and  the  thief  but 
from  corrupt  moral  influences,  and  from  the  disease  which  you 
cannot  keep  out  of  your  house  if  you  leave  it  rampant  in  your 
cities,  depends  upon  your  city  governments. 

If  you  would  have  your  households  safe  from  preventable 
diseases — if  you  would  see  your  children  grow  to  healthy  man- 
hood and  womanhood — make  the  environ- 
The  Need  of  a  ment  in  which  they  live  healthy.  Why  you 
Healthy  know  that  typhoid  fever  which  was  for  a  gener- 

Environment  ation  epidemic  in  this  city  was  no  respecter  of 
persons.  It  found  its  way  into  the  most  care- 
fully and  jealously  guarded  household,  as  it  did  into  the  house- 
holds of  the  poor  that  were  unable  to  afford  any  private  means 
for  protection.  And  when  you  think,  too,  of  all  those  hves  that 
have  been  wasted  by  that  scourge  that  could  and  should  have 
been  driven  out  of  this  city  as  easily  ten  years  ago  as  it  is  today, 
then  you  realize  what  bad  city  government  means  to  you,  not  in 
your  pockets  alone,  but  in  those  thing  which  are  nearest  and 
dearest  to  every  true  man  and  woman  in  the  city. 

That  is  what  good  government  means. 

All  infectious  and  preventable  diseases  can  be  controlled;  but 
they  must  be  controlled  by  the  organized  effort  of  the  city.  The 
power  of  the  city  is  the  only  power  that  is  sufficient  to  put  into 
efficient  operation  those  things  which  are  necessary  to  stamp 
out  such  diseases. 

Today  I  think  the  people  of  Pittsburgh  can  congratulate  them- 
selves that  certainly  in  the  great  central  district  of  the  city  and 
in  a  short  time  in  the  other  sections  too  typhoid  fever  will  be 
gone  from  our  midst.  Is  it  not  plainly  our  duty  to  move  for- 
ward?   Can  we  stop  now? 


GEORGE  W.  GUTHRIE 


371 


There  are  other  diseases,  diseases  which  spring  from  other 
causes,  but  which  are  just  as  easily  to  be  controlled,  just  as 
easily  to  be  eliminated.  Why,  with  an  earnest  effort  for  ten 
years  you  can  make  a  new  case  of  tuberculosis  as  rare  as  typhoid 
fever  will  be  in  a  little  while.  Just  think  what  that  means. 
Just  think  of  the  suffering  that  will  be  eliminated. 

I  won't  take  up  more  of  your  time  on  this  line.  There  are 
other  speakers  that  you  want  to  hear,  who  are  to  follow  me,  so 
I  will  pass  on  to  other  ideas.  These  things  to  which  I  have 
referred,  however,  illustrate  what  I  mean  when  I  speak  of  the 
vital  importance  of  good  government  to  the  people:  what  I 
mean  when  I  say  the  city  can  make  out  of  the  life  of  Pittsburgh 
whatever  the  highest  standard  and  the  highest  ideal  of  the  people 
may  demand — intellectual  and  physical  ideal  we  can  lift  omt 
people  to. 

Now  then  the  other  thing  that  you  need  is  not  only  a  knowledge 
of  what  cities  mean  and  of  what  can  be  done  with  them,  but  a 
moral  purpose  that  you  will  meet  the  responsibilities  which  rest 
upon  you  in  these^matters  before  you  can  accomplish  them.  We 
are  moral  agents.  Our  city,  which  is  but  the  aggregate  of  a 
number  of  moral  units,  is  also  a  moral  agent,  and  upon  us  rests 
the  moral  responsibility  for  what  we  do  with  it — for  the  in- 
fluence of  the  city  as  controlled  by  us  upon  the  life  of  those 
who  will  come  here  after  us  and  upon  the  life  of  our  nation  itself 
for  good  or  evil.  We  may  neglect  our  duty — we  may  misuse 
OUT  power — but  we  cannot  escape  our  responsibiUty. 

So  we  come  to  the  next  need.  I  believe  these  two  needs  to 
which  I  have  referred  are  fast  passing  away  in  our  state,  that 
we  are  learning  to  know  what  the  city  should  be,  and  that  we 
are  awakening  to  our  responsibility  and  to  a  moral  determina- 
tion to  meet  it.  But  next  we  want  the  opportunity  and  the 
legal  power  to  meet  this  responsibility. 

Now  there  is  one  very  serious  obstacle  in  the  power  of  the 
people  to  govern  their  city  as  well  as  their  state, 
The  Liberty  and  that  is  in  the  restrictions  which  have  been 
of  the  Ballot  placed  upon  the  liberty  of  the  ballot  in  this 
state.  A  little  while  ago  these  restrictions  were 
attacked  in  the  courts  as  unconstitutional,  because  they  destroyed 


372    FUNDAMENTAL  MUNICIPAL  NEEDS  IN  PENNSYLVANIA 

the  liberty  and  the  equahty  of  elections  which  the  constitution 
guaranteed  to  the  people ;  and  I  want  to  tell  you  that  so  plain — 
so  strong — was  the  attack  on  that  ground,  that  the  provisions 
complained  of  were  sustained  by  a  majority  only  in  the  supreme 
court.  Some  of  the  judges  were  of  opinion  that  they  ought  to 
be  stricken  down  for  that  reason.  Well  now,  when  it  comes  so 
near  to  the  letter  of  the  prohibition  of  your  constitution,  don't 
you  see  how  really  obnoxious  it  is  to  the  spirit  ?  This  law  which 
destroys  the  liberty  of  the  ballots,  which  destroys  the  equality 
of  elections,  must  be  changed  to  give  back  to  the  people  the 
whole  power  to  govern  our  cities. 

Demand  of  the  legislature  that  they  give  back  to  us  that  which 
belongs  to  us  by  virtue  of  our  manhood,  a  free  ballot  that  no 
one  can  control  and  in  which  no  one  has  a  greater  right  in  than 
we  have. 

And  then  you  want  more  power  to  your  cities.  You  want 
more  authority  in  your  city  government  to  do  that  which  is 
needed  for  the  well  being  and  the  safety  of  the  people  in  general 
in  order  that  it  may  fully  meet  the  responsibilities  belonging 
to  it. 

There  is  no  use  in  thinking  that  you  can  make  your  cities  good 
by  depriving  them  of  power.  They  can  be  just  as  vile  and 
vicious  in  their  administration  under  restriction 
More  Power  as  they  can  be  with  full  power,  but  they  cannot 
for  the  Cities  be  as  effective  for  good.  Give  them  the  full 
power.  Let  the  people  have  the  power  to  do 
right.  Let  them  bear  the  responsibility  for  doing  wrong.  And 
then  we  shall  have  an  opportunity  to  make  out  of  otir  cities 
what  they  ought  to  be. 

Look  at  the  absurdity  of  the  law  as  it  stands  today.  Phila- 
delphia, being  the  one  city  of  the  first  class,  can,  if  she  has  suffi- 
cient political  influence,  get  some  change  in  her  charter  from  the 
legislature  without  anybody  else's  consent.  Pittsburgh  and 
Scranton  have  got  to  go  together.  Pittsburgh  cannot  get  a 
change  in  her  charter  without  satisfying  Scranton;  nor  can 
Scranton  get  a  change  in  her  charter  without  satisfying  Pitts- 
burgh. Neither  of  these  cities  can  get  out  of  the  class  in  which 
it  now  belongs  without  getting  permission  from  the  legislature; 


GEORGE  W.  GUTHRIE 


373 


and  if  we  want  to  go  into  the  cities  of  the  first  class  we  have  got 
to  get  the  consent  of  Philadelphia's  representatives.  And 
moreover  if  we  do  get  into  that  class  we  have  got  to  take  the 
charter  of  Philadelphia  as  it  stands  whether  it  suits  our  needs 
or  not;  and  if  Scranton  does  not  like  the  charter  we  have,  she 
may  if  she  can  get  permission  become  a  city  of  the  third  class 
and  be  governed  by  its  law.  She  must  sleep  in  a  bed  made  to 
fit  all  the  little  cities  of  the  state.  Why,  it  is  absurd.  Let  our 
cities,  as  the  National  Municipal  League  has  advocated  for 
years,  be  given  power  to  frame  a  government  of  their  cities  in 
such  form  as  they  think  wise.  They  are  able  to  do  it.  They 
are  just  as  able  to  do  it  as  the  people  of  the  state.  Let  them, 
subject  to  the  general  laws  of  the  state,  have  all  the  powers  nec- 
essary to  carry  out  the  purposes  of  municipal  life.  Then  we 
can  look  forward  to  bright  days  for  city  government.  Then 
we  can  unhampered  go  forward  and  get  rid  of  the  evils  which 
injure  our  lives  and  obstruct  our  development. 

Now,  just  a  moment.  Look  at  this  situation.  What  we 
are  we  owe  to  our  city.  The  value  of  our  property  is  only 
great  because  of  the  congestion  brought  here — because  of  the 
needs  of  the  community  in  it — because  of  the  protection  which 
the  city  gives  to  it.  The  value  of  our  business  is  due  to  the  city; 
and  what  we  are  intellectually,  physically  and  morally  we  owe 
largely  to  our  city. 

Now,  is  it  not  absurd  under  such  a  situation  that  a  man  should 
be  permitted  to  do  something  with  his  property  which  is  destruc- 
tive to  the  best  interests  of  the  whole  community?  Is  it  not 
absurd  that  a  man  should  be  allowed  to  take  that  property 
which  is  made  enormously  valuable  by  the  needs  of  the  life  of 
the  city  and  put  it  in  such  a  condition  that  it  is  debasing  the 
lives  of  the  people?  This  housing  problem  about  which  we  have 
heard  so  much  means  much  to  our  city  life,  and  yet,  sir,  we  leave 
to  a  man  who  may  be  animated  by  any  selfish,  greedy  interest 
the  right  to  put  and  keep  upon  that  property  a  building  in  such 
a  condition  and  use  it  in  such  a  way  that  he  is  poisoning  the 
physical  and  moral  life  of  the  whole  community. 

This  is  not  right:  we  should  have  the  power  to  deal  with  those 
problems.    The  mere  moral  responsibility  of  the  individual  is 


3  74    FUNDAMENTAL  MUNICIPAL  NEEDS  IN  PENNSYLVANIA 


something  that  he  answers  for  to  a  higher  power  than  the  city; 
but  his  responsibiUty  to  the  city,  which  springs  from  this  close 
business  connection  between  the  two — from  the  value  of  what 
he  gets  from  the  city — imposes  on  him  a  responsibility  for  which 
he  should  be  legally  answerable  to  the  city. 

Let  us  look  further.  The  city  has  power  to  take  a  man's 
dwelling  house  or  his  store  to  make  a  street.  Why?  Because 
the  public  needs  the  street,  and  it  is  necessary  to  the  public  life 
to  have  the  street.  But  our  court  of  Common  Pleas  has  decided 
that  we  cannot  take  a  bridge,  which  is  as  necessary  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  life  of  the  city  as  the  street ;  and  the  supreme  court 
has  decided  that  we  cannot  take  by  condemnation  a  portion  of 
a  street  railway  which  may  be  hampering  and  obstructing  the 
growth  and  developing  the  life  of  the  city  as  much  as  your 
neighbor's  dwelling  house,  which  we  are  permitted  to  take  from 
him  upon  paying  the  compensation. 

This  is  absurd.  Let  the  city  have  its  rights.  Take  it  out  of 
leading  strings.  Why,  many  of  our  cities  are  greater  in  popula- 
tion and  in  educational  development  and  in  all  that  goes  to 
make  the  life  of  a  community  truly  great,  than  our  states  were 
at  the  beginning  of  this  nation.  Why  should  they  not  be  taken 
out  of  leading  strings  and  given  the  chance  that  our  states  were 
given  then — to  move  forward  freely  to  the  highest  development 
which  they  can  obtain. 

Let  me  say  in  conclusion,  that  there  are  some  other,  perhaps 
smaller,  matters  of  need.  Take  our  own  city.  We  have  got  a 
very  cumbersome  form  in  all  of  our  cities  of  the  bicameral  system 
for  councils.  It  is  absolutely  unnecessary  and  indefensible.  I 
would  also  provide  a  better  system  for  pubhc  accoimting  for  our 
municipalities — a  uniform  system  of  public  accounting  in  which, 
probably  imder  state  or  other  outside  control — so  that  the  cities 
can  be  compared  properly  with  one  another  in  such  a  manner 
that  we,  the  people,  can  tmderstand.  As  it  is  today,  we  in  this 
city  spend  so  much  money  and  some  other  city  spends  an  equal 
or  greater  amount,  but  we  don't  know  whether  it  is  for  the  same 
things  or  not.  While  this  continues  we  cannot  compare  results. 
The  United  States  census  bureau  is  making  great  progress  in 
producing  this  vmiformity  which  we  desire ;  but  necessarily  from 


GEORGE  W.  GUTHRIE 


375 


its  conditions  it  is  too  far  back  to  make  it  fully  useful.  Life 
moves  too  rapidly  to  make  the  information  which  is  two  years 
old  very  valuable.  We  want  it  today.  I  would  have  our  system 
changed  so  that  we  would  have  a  uniform  system  of  municipal 
accovmting.  And  I  would  have  it  made  public,  and  I  would 
probably  have  it  vmder  state  control. 

And  while  I  do  not  believe,  as  a  general  proposition,  in  putting 
leading  strings  upon  the  city,  there  are  some  restraints  which 
experience  has  shown  to  be  wise.  I  believe  the  people  have  got 
to  govern  themselves  and  we  have  got  to  leave  it  to  them  to 
meet  those  responsibilities  incident  to  that  power.  In  the  end 
it  all  depends  upon  their  intelligence,  honesty  and  capacity, 
but  there  are  some  things  in  which  I  think  it  would  be  well  to 
guard  them.  I  think  the  temptation  of  the  people  of  today  to 
care  for  themselves,  to  look  to  their  own  temporary  good,  even  if 
it  does  sacrifice  that  of  a  generation  to  follow  them,  is  very 
strong.  So  I  think  that  our  constitutional  limit  on  the  debt  of 
the  city  is  a  very  good  one  because  it  compels  the  people  to  pay 
as  they  go  and  only  give  them  power  to  make  debts  for  those 
things  which  the  next  generation  will  share  in. 

And  I  would  not  let  them  give  away  perpetual  franchises. 
You  may  buy  something  with  it  today  that  you  and  I  need, 
but  the  temporary  good  should  never  take 
Limited  the  place  of  the  great  interest  of  the  nation 

Franchises         and  the  people.    I  would  not  let  them  do  it. 

Think  of  what  perpetuity  means :  why,  Caesar's 
legions  entered  England  only  about  two  thousand  years  ago, 
and  that  is  not  the  beginning  of  perpetuity.  It  is  only  a  little 
over  five  hundred  years  since  Columbus  came  to  this  country. 
Now  what  would  a  perpetual  franchise  granted  in  this  country 
at  that  time  have  been  worth  today?  We  have  just  been  cele- 
brating the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  year  of  the  founding  of 
this  city.  Then  it  was  just  a  military  post  on  the  frontier. 
One  hundred  and  fifty  years  have  gone  by,  and  that  is  not  an 
hour — it  is  not  a  minute — when  you  attempt  to  measure  per- 
petuity. Those  things  that  bind  the  life  of  a  nation  or  of  a 
people  forever,  ought  never  to  be  granted  for  any  temporary 
good.    And  when  it  comes  to  granting  franchises  even  for  lim- 


3  76    FUNDAMENTAL  MUNICIPAL  NEEDS  IN  PENNSYLVANIA 

ited  periods,  I  would  put  upon  those  who  have  the  power  to  grant 
them  the  Hmitation  that  the  people  as  a  whole  must  vote  on 
them  before  they  become  valid.  If  a  franchise  asked  for  does 
not  commend  itself  so  to  the  people  of  a  city  that  a  majority 
of  them  will  favor  the  grant  it  ought  not  to  be  granted.  Better 
wait,  better  wait.  The  people  as  a  whole  know  what  is  best 
for  them  really.  I  tell  you  you  can  trust  to  that  sense.  Give 
them  time  and  they  will  arrive  at  the  practical  idea  and  it  is 
pretty  safe. 

Now,  to  say  it  again,  I  have  no  pessimism  in  my  nature;  I 
do  not  see  any  cloud  over  the  destiny  of  this  country,  because 
I  beHeve  that  however  the  days  may  come  and  go — however 

there  may  come  periods  of  financial  disaster 
Civic  Traitors     or  distress — the  sunshine  will  come  again.  The 

splendid  evidence  we  have  seen  in  this  coimtry 
and  in  this  city  of  the  great  power  of  the  people  to  control  them- 
selves, to  behave  in  full  obedience  to  the  law  and  to  order  under 
terms  of  great  stress  carries  an  assurance  of  safety.  When 
thousands  were  without  work  and  without  money  and  often 
without  bread  in  their  houses,  there  has  not  been  in  this  great 
city,  a  single  disturbance  on  that  account.  Why?  Because 
the  people  believed  in  themselves,  and  it  was  they  themselves 
that  stood  for  right  and  order;  and  that  same  sense  will  carry 
us  through  the  future.  They  won't  be  carried  away  with  false 
ideas.  The  only  danger  that  can  come  to  this  country  is,  as 
I  have  said  before,  from  the  briber  and  the  bribe  taker.  The 
man  who  prostitutes  public  office  for  personal  gain  or  for  the 
profit  of  his  friends  or  for  the  advancement  of  his  political 
organization,  and  the  man  who  tempts  a  public  officer  to  thus 
betray  his  trust,  these  are  the  Benedict  Arnolds  of  today;  and 
the  moral  sense  of  this  country  in  a  little  while,  if  it  does  not 
already,  will  look  upon  men  who  have  done  those  things  as  we 
look  back  at  Benedict  Arnold.  The  one  betrayed  his  country 
in  a  military  station,  the  other  in  a  civil  post;  but  both  alike 
were  traitors  to  the  people.  But  they  will  go.  The  people  will 
rise  to  meet  their  responsibilities,  and  our  cities  will  be  safe 
from  preventable  diseases,  will  be  safe  from  violence  and  dis- 
order, will  be  safe  from  all  those  pernicious  influences  that  tend 


GEORGE  W.  GUTHRIE 


377 


to  debase  the  moral  standard  or  the  physical  growth  of  the 
people,  and  we  shall  have  a  people  able  to  rule  this  nation,  no 
matter  how  dense  the  population  may  grow  to  be. 


The  Work  of  Boards  of  Health' 


By  GEORGE  A.  SOPER,  Ph.D.,  New  York  City 
Chairman,  Metropolitan  Sewerage  Commission 

The  purpose  of  this  paper  is  to  sketch  some  of  the  outUnes  and 
bearings  of  pubHc  health  work  as  now  carried  on  in  the  United 
States,  so  as  to  afford  the  members  of  the  National  Municipal 
League  a  basis  for  discussion  in  this  important  field.  To  facili- 
tate this  purpose  principles  rather  than  practices  are  mentioned 
as  far  as  practicable. 

In  order  to  encourage  discussion  certain  questions  are  speci- 
fically raised  and  various  others  are  no  less  purposely  implied. 
The  paper  is  not  to  be  taken  as  a  final  expression  of  the  author's 
opinion  with  respect  to  the  subjects  dealt  with,  but  is  rather  an 
invitation  to  others  to  express  their  views,  after  which  the  author 
will  conclude  with  such  remarks  as  the  circumstances  seem  to 
require. 

The  spirit  of  the  laws  by  which  matters  of  public  health  are 
administered  rests  upon  the  theory  which  underlies  all  forms 

'  Dr.  Soper's  paper  was  prepared  by  him  as  a  member  of  the  Committee 
on  Municipal  Health  and  Sanitation,  authorized  at  the  Providence  meet- 
ing, at  which  the  following  papers  were  presented  at  the  joint  meeting 
of  the  American  Civic  Association  and  National  Municipal  League: 
"Work  for  Personal  and  PubHc  Hygiene  in  Rochester,"  Dr.  George  W. 
Goler;  "Sanitation  in  Providence,"  Dr.  Charles  V.  Chopin;  "Notes  on  the 
Board  of  Health  of  Montclair,  N.  J.,"  M.  N.  Baker;  "Chicago's  Municipal 
Sanitation,"  Dr.  William  A.  Evans;  "Health  and  Sanitation  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,"  William  Creighton  Woodward,  M.D.;  "Public 
Health  and  Municipal  Sanitation  in  Cleveland,"  William  Travis  Howard, 
M.D.;  "The  Relation  of  Municipal  Sanitation  to  the  State  and  the 
National  Government,"  Dr.  Charles  O.  Probst,  Editor,  Columbus,  Ohio. 

(378) 


GEORGE  A.  SOPER 


379 


of  government,  that  is,  that  the  state  has  the  power  to  compel 
the  ignorant,  the  selfish,  the  careless  and  the 
The  Health  vicious  to  so  regulate  their  lives  and  property 
Power  of  the  that  they  shall  not  be  a  source  of  danger  to 
State  others.    It  is  an  expression  of  the  idea  that 

the  interests  of  no  man  can  exceed  the  inter- 
ests of  his  fellows.    The  welfare  of  the  many  is  the  supreme  law. 

Extraordinary  powers  have  from  early  times  been  vested  in 
the  authorities  charged  with  administering  sanitary  laws.  The 
highest  courts  have  declared  that  the  administration  of  public 
health  laws  is  fundamentally  important  and  entitled  to  the  sup- 
dort  of  the  police  power  of  the  State.  Public  health  authorities 
are,  in  effect,  police  officers  charged  with  a  special  jurisdiction 
over  the  conditions  which  cause,  aggravate,  or  predispose  to 
disease.  In  the  exercise  of  their  remarkable  powers  health 
authorities  may  restrain  persons  from  contact  with  others,  they 
may  enter  upon  and  even  destroy  private  property,  and  may 
exercise  supervisory  jurisdiction  over  trades  and  occupations. 

Many  years  ago  the  almost  autocratic  power  enjoyed  by  health 
authorities  was  much  more  necessary  than  it  is  at  present, 
for  the  highly  contagious  diseases  have,  through  the  operation 
of  health  laws,  better  personal  and  household  hygiene  and 
municipal  sanitary  works  been  relegated  to  a  comparatively 
unimportant  place  as  a  cause  of  death.  Epidemics  of  high 
mortality  and  vast  extent  rarely  take  place  in  civilized  countries 
today,  and  the  need  of  a  prompt,  decisive  exercise  of  great 
authority  in  this  direction  is  consequently  less  often  necessary 
than  formerly. 

At  the  same  time  a  new  class  of  duties  is  growing  upon  health 
authorities.    Some  of  these  duties  are  plainly  within  the  proper 

functions  of  health  boards,  while  others  appear 
New  Sanitary  to  be  less  so.  Among  the  obviously  proper  duties 
Duties  referred  to  are  vaccination,  the  manufacture  and 

distribution  of  anti-toxin,  the  control  of  methods 
of  sewage  disposal,  and  the  sanitary  management  of  milk 
and  water  supplies.  Of  less  obvious  appropriateness  is  the 
regulation  by  boards  of  health  of  such  matters  as  the  discharge 
of  excessive  quantities  of  smoke  into  the  atmosphere  of  cities,  the 


38o 


THE  WORK  OF  BOARDS  OF  HEALTH 


regulation  of  street  noises  and  the  hygienic  care  of  the  food,  cloth- 
ing, exercises  and  amusements  of  school  children.  It  is  probable 
that  these  matters  should  be  made  the  subject  of  regulation  in 
the  public  interest,  but  should  the  board  of  health  be  the  instru- 
ment chosen  to  regulate  them? 

Obviously  some  limit  should  be  placed  upon  the  exercise  of 
the  power  possessed  by  boards  of  health  when  questions  not 
strictly  germane  to  the  sanitary  welfare  of  the  public  are  con- 
cerned. If  no  such  limit  is  placed  it  is  difficult  to  understand 
where  the  activities  of  boards  of  health  are  to  cease.  Almost 
every  act  and  occupation  and  nearly  every  feature  of  city  life 
may  be  construed  as  having  some  bearing  upon  public  health 
and  welfare.  Before  a  board  of  health  sets  out  upon  a  campaign 
of  more  aesthetic  than  sanitary  value  it  should  be  certain  that 
all  its  simple  and  essential  duties  are  being  efficiently  discharged. 
There  is  often  much  inconsistency  in  public  health  work. 

So  extensive  and  so  numerous  are  the  conditions  of  modern 
civilization  which  certainly  affect  public  health  that  boards  of 
health  generally  do  not  pretend  to  cover  them 
Inconsistency  all.  For  example,  the  construction  and  mainte- 
in  Public  nance  of  public  water  supplies  and  sewerage 

Health  Work  systems,  although  undertaken  by  the  public  at 
the  public  expense,  are  not  conducted  by  health 
authorities  but  by  private  corporations  or  special  municipal 
departments.  Likewise  the  collection  and  disposal  of  garbage, 
and  even  the  cleaning  of  privies,  is  often  done  by  other  than 
public  health  authorities. 

There  is  something  incongruous  about  a  board  of  health  con- 
ducting a  crusade  against  smoke  and  noise  and  at  the  same  time 
allowing  the  streets  to  be  filthy  with  dirt  and  dust  and  offensive 
with  accumulations  of  fermenting  garbage.  Again,  a  great  deal 
of  the  attention  of  health  boards  is  occupied  with  alleged  nui- 
sances, which  affect  comfort  but  not  health.  The  history  of 
every  city  is  a  record  of  more  and  more  strict  regulations  to 
minimize  the  unpleasant  as  well  as  the  insanitary  conditions  of 
municipal  life. 

The  work  of  boards  of  health  has  been,  on  the  whole,  very 
decidedly  for  the  advancement  of  the  public  welfare.    The  great 


GEORGE  A.  SOPER 


381 


reduction  in  the  general  death  rate  and  the  more  wholesome  and 
agreeab'e  conditions  of  living  of  today  as  compared  with  those  of 
a  generation  ago,  bear  ample  testimony  to  this  success.  If  it  be 
objected  that  other  factors  have  been  at  work  to  improve  the 
sanitary  conditions  of  cities,  it  must  be  answered  that  much  of  the 
inspiration  for  this  other  work  has  come  from  health  authorities. 
It  should  never  be  forgotten  that  it  is  sanitation  which  has  made 
the  growth  of  cities  possible. 

Having  thus  briefly  referred  to  the  scope  and  bearing  of  public 
health  work  we  may  pass  to  a  consideration  of  the  relation  of 
city,  state  and  nation  in  regulating  the  public  health. 

The  authority  exercised  by  public  health  boards  is  derivable 
from  the  state.  In  the  United  States  the  management  of  the 
internal  affairs  of  each  separate  state  is  left, 
The  Relation  for  the  most  part,  to  the  state  concerned, 
of  Health  Municipal  charters  are  obtained  from  the  state 

Boards  to  the  governments  and  in  these  charters  the  power 
State  to  regulate  conditions  affecting  public  health 

are  specifically  granted.  Cities  and  towns  thus 
owe  responsibility  to  the  state  government  and  are  answerable 
to  them  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  depending  upon  local  cir- 
cumstances. In  Massachusetts  local  boards  of  health  are  com- 
paratively independent  of  the  state  authority,  while  in  New 
York  the  state  department  of  health  is  a  central  body  to  which 
the  local  boards  of  health  are  closely  tributary. 

State  health  authorities  are  in  no  case  responsible  or  answer- 
able to  the  general  government.  There  is  no  national  board  of 
health. 

In  the  management  of  health  matters  the  smallest  division 
of  responsibility  is  a  municipal  health  officer,  the  largest  a  state 
health  officer  or  board  of  health.  Whether  municipal  or  state 
the  functions  of  health  authorities  are  very  much  the  same. 
The  main  differences  arise  from  the  differences  in  area  over  which 
the  authorities  are  required  to  exercise  supervision.  Local 
boards  have  charge  of  the  conditions  which  occur  in  the  several 
localities  in  a  state;  they  take  cognizance  of  individual  houses 
and  of  persons.  The  ultimate  units  over  which  state  boards 
exercise  jurisdiction  are  municipalities. 


382 


THE  WORK  OF  BOARDS  OF  HEALTH 


It  is  the  first  duty  of  all  boards  to  collect  vital  statistics,  to 
collate  them  in  tabular  form,  and  to  interpret  these  data  so  as 

to  show  the  state  of  the  public  health.  Local 
Vital  Statistics    boards  of  health  collect  reports  of  deaths  and 

of  contagious  and  infectious  diseases  from  physi- 
cians, interpret  these  data  for  the  benefit  of  the  districts  to  which 
they  apply  and  then  forward  them  to  the  state  authorities. 
The  state  authorities  thus  obtain  a  knowledge  of  the  health 
in  various  sections  of  the  state  and  are  so  enabled  to  judge 
the  relative  healthfulness  of  the  different  localities.  An  ex- 
cessive prevalence  of  disease  in  one  place  can  thus  be  promptly 
detected. 

The  methods  of  collecting  vital  statistics  are  often  unsatis- 
factory and  the  results  frequently  deceptive.  It  may  be  remarked 
in  passing  that  vital  statistics  are  today  available  for  only  a 
fraction  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  except  during  the 
years  when  the  United  States  government  makes  a  census 
enumeration.  In  this  respect  this  country  is  behind  nearly  every 
civilized  country  in  Europe.  The  fault  lies  with  our  municipal 
and  state  governments. 

In  interpreting  death  rates  careful  account  must  be  taken  of 
the  marriage  and  birth  rates,  total  population,  migrations  of 
population,  and  other  factors;  and  it  would  be  well  for  boards 
of  health  to  charge  themselves  with  collating  as  well  as  collect- 
ing these  vital  statistics  in  a  more  intelligent  manner. 

When  the  evidence  of  vital  statistics  indicates  the  presence 
of  an  unsanitary  condition  through  an  excessive  prevalence  of 
some  commimicable  disease,  investigations  are  commonly  made 
to  determine  the  nature  of  the  difficulty.  This  is  often  a 
troublesome  and  uncertain  task.  But  when  the  difficulty  is 
once  discovered  it  is  usually  a  simple  matter  to  prescribe  the 
remedy. 

In  very  recent  years  sanitary  investigations  have  been  made 
much  more  definite  and  effective  by  the  appUcations  of  bacteri- 
ology, chemistry  and  pathology,  and  a  new  class  of  professional 
men  has  been  developed  for  laboratory  and  field  work  of  the 
highest  and  best  order.  These  persons  we  may  call  sanitarians 
or,  better,  hygienists. 


GEORGE  A.  SOPER  383 

The  second  main  branch  of  public  health  work  is  the  suppres- 
sion of  communicable  diseases.    Suppressive  measures  include 
the  establishment  of  quarantine,  the  isolation 
Communicable   of  patients,  disinfection,  vaccination  and  the 
Diseases  management  of  epidemics.    Contrary  to  the 

custom  of  twenty  years  ago,  all  the  best  work 
in  these  directions  today  is  based  upon  a  scientific  knowledge  of 
what  we  may  call  the  natural  history  of  disease.  In  all  these 
matters  of  control  the  dictum  of  the  health  authority  is  supreme. 
It  can  be  resisted  only  through  intervention  by  the  courts. 

The  third  main  branch  of  public  health  work  is  the  abatement 
of  nuisances.  The  practical  work  of  suppressing  unsanitary 
conditions  is  done  by  health  authorities  by  recourse  to  special 
statutes  and  local  regulations  made  by  the  authorities  themselves 
and  termed  "  sanitary  ordinances"  or  "sanitary  codes.  "  Offend- 
ers against  these  laws  and  regulations  are  brought 
Abatement  of  before  proper  magistrates  and  fined.  A  board 
Nuisances  of  health  exercises  the  unique  function  of  both 

making  and  enforcing  the  law. 
It  is  often  extremely  difficult  to  determine  what  does  and  what 
does  not  constitute  a  nuisance.  For  practical  purposes  it  may 
be  considered  that  anything  which  is  detrimental  to  health  or 
which  threatens  danger  to  persons  or  property  may  be  considered 
and  dealt  with  as  a  nuisance. 

Interesting  work  for  the  suppression  of  disease  lies  in  educating 
the  public,  the  medical  profession  and  the  health  authorities  as 
to  the  causes  of  and  means  of  preventing  the  transmission 
of  disease.  This  is  one  of  the  newest  and  most  successful 
branches  of  public  health  work  which  has  been  undertaken  for 
many  years.  It  is  based  on  the  fact  that  people  are  not  careless 
in  sanitary  matters  because  of  a  willful  or  vicious  design  against 
the  public  welfare;  they  err  through  ignorance. 
Need  of  Edu-  By  educating  the  less  fortunate  concerning  the 
eating  the  ways  in  which  diseases  are  transmitted  and 

Public  showing  how  they  can  be  prevented,  substantial 

benefit  results. 

This  educational  work  is  carried  on  through  the  daily  papers, 
the  medical  papers,  special  bulletins  and  magazines,  b^'  lectures, 


384 


THE  WORK  OF  BOARDS  OF  HEALTH 


by  congresses  and,  to  some  extent,  by  schools.  Sanitary  societies 
and  public  health  associations  deserve  special  credit  for  good  work 
in  arousing  the  public  to  the  need  of  better  public  health  work. 

At  the  same  time  it  is  regrettable  that  arguments  have  been 
made  and  movements  have  been  initiated  in  the  name  of  public 
health  which  have  had  no  foundation  in  fact  or  scientific  principle. 
The  cause  of  public  health  has  always  been  a  favorite  theme  alike 
for  the  charlatan  and  the  statesman. 

By  the  remarkable  advance  in  that  composite  body  of  knowl- 
edge known  as  sanitary  science  much  of  the  quackery  of  fraud 
and  the  deceptions  of  ignorance  are  being  dispelled  from  public 
health  work,  and  we  may  confidently  look  forward  to  the  time 
when  persons  who  have  had  adequate  training  and  experience 
in  this  direction  will  be  looked  upon  as  the  proper  sanitary 
teachers. 

In  this  campaign  of  sanitary  education  which  is  going  on  it  is 
a  deplorable  fact  that  the  universities  and  colleges  of  the  United 
States  are  singularly  backward.  With  a  few  notable  exceptions, 
there  is  scarcely  a  school  for  higher  education  in  the  United 
States  where  competent  knowledge  of  hygiene  can  be  obtained. 
In  spite  of  the  fact  that  many  of  the  largest  and  most  prominent 

universities  have  had  severe  experiences  with 
Need  of  Edu-  typhoid  they  have  been  exceedingly  slow  in 
cated  Officials     providing  proper  faciUties  for  the  teaching  of 

hygiene.  One  of  the  greatest  needs  of  public 
health  work  today  is  the  want  of  competent  teaching  for  health 
officers,  physicians,  engineers  and  others,  who  may  wish  to 
obtain  a  complete  and  practical  knowledge  of  their  profession. 
In  the  absence  of  suitable  faciUties  for  the  education  of  health 
officers  the  United  States  is  decidedly  behind  European  countries. 

In  the  management  of  communicable  diseases  the  principles 
of  isolation,  disinfection,  vaccination,  have  been  referred  to. 
It  remains  to  mention  the  help  that  may  be  afforded  by  the 
establishment  of  laboratories  for  the  diagnosis  of  suspected 
cases  of  communicable  diseases.  Laboratories  where  examina- 
tions may  be  made  of  sputum,  blood,  urine,  stools  and  other 
pathological  specimens,  are  one  of  the  newest  developments  in 
public  health  work,  but  they  have  been  in  operation  sufficiently 


GEORGE  A.  SOPER 


385 


long  to  make  them  seem  indispensable.  By  their  means  early 
and  obscure  cases  of  tuberculosis,  typhoid  fever,  diphtheria  and 
other  too  common  preventable  diseases  may  be  discovered,  and 
with  a  precision  and  promptness  generally  impossible  in  private 
medical  practice.  Along  with  pathological  work  of  municipal 
public  health  laboratories  facilities  are  often 
Laboratories  provided  for  the  analysis  of  water,  milk,  food 
and  drugs.  Any  citizen  may  send  specimens 
to  these  laboratories  for  examination,  and  is  entitled  to  a  report 
without  charge. 

Every  board  of  health  should  have  the  benefit  of  laboratory 
assistance  of  this  kind.  Municipal  boards  in  large  cities  can 
afford  to  maintain  them,  but  for  the  small  city  and  village  other 
provision  must  be  made.  Here  the  state  can  render  valuable 
assistance  and  maintain  laboratories  for  the  benefit  of  munici- 
palities which  cannot  have  them. 

In  addition  to  the  measures  of  prevention  and  suppression 
which  have  been  mentioned  reference  should  be  made  to  the 
preparation  and  distribution  of  anti-toxin  by  boards  of  health. 
Here  we  have  an  application  of  the  laboratory  principle  applied 
to  the  production  of  a  remedy  rather  than  to  the  discovery  of 
the  cause  of  disease.  Anti-toxin  is  a  curative  measure  which 
may  be  and  is  appUed  more  often  than  not  to  isolated  cases  of 
diphtheria.  The  beneficent  results  which  have  followed  the  use 
of  this  agent  in  combating  one  of  the  most  common  and  fatal 
of  household  diseases  are  unquestioned,  but  it  must  not  be  for- 
gotten that  in  supplying  anti-toxin  without  charge,  boards  of 
health  lay  themselves  open  to  the  charge  of 
Anti-toxin  competing  with  private  manufactories  which 
prepare  the  same  product  and  are  presumably 
in  a  legitimate  business  to  make  money. 

Results  seem  to  show  that  it  is  desirable  for  boards  of  health 
to  supply  anti-toxin,  but  the  principle  involved  is  an  interesting 
one.  If  anti-toxin  is  to  be  supplied  gratis  by  boards  of  health, 
should  not  those  boards  also  supply  disinfectants,  concerning 
which  there  are  no  greater  frauds  in  the  American  markets  today? 
And  if  anti-toxin  and  disinfectants,  why  not  other  things  such 
as  indispensable  articles  of  clothing? 


386 


THE  WORK  OF  BOARDS  OF  HEALTH 


To  enumerate  all  the  functions  of  boards  of  health,  local  and 
state,  would  far  surpass  the  necessary  limits  of  this  paper,  but 
enough  has  been  said  to  show  warrant  for  endorsing  most  of  the 
work  being  done,  to  approve  the  extension  of  some  and  the 
limitation  of  some  of  the  ever  growing  activities  of  health  bureaus. 
A  long  paper  could  be  written  on  any  of  a  dozen  phases  of  this 
subject. 

Taking  a  rapid  review  of  the  subjects  covered  here,  we  may 
remark  first  that  boards  of  health  have  ample  power.  The 
standards  of  public  health  and  municipal  hygiene  are  continually 
growing  higher. 

The  dangers  from  disease  in  gross  epidemic  form  are  becoming 
less  and  less,  and  in  their  place  a  new  set  of  hygienic  standards 
is  being  erected.  Some  of  these  new  standards  verge  upon  the 
realm  of  aesthetics.  To  what  extent  boards  of  health  are  right 
in  extending  their  efforts  to  improve  municipal  conditions  which 
bear  remotely,  if  at  all,  on  disease  and  death,  but  undoubtedly 
afifect  public  comfort,  is  a  question  for  debate. 

To  be  effective  health  work  must  be  cooperative.  Statistics 
must  be  promptly  and  accurately  collected  by  the  ultimate  units 
of  sanitary  authority,  municipal  health  boards, 
Summary  and  transmitted  to  boards  having  jurisdiction 

over  larger  territory.  Whether  or  not  the 
largest  unit  of  health  control  should  be  the  state  or  the  nation 
is  a  question  which  this  paper  need  not  discuss.  It  is  to  be 
remembered  in  this  connection,  however,  that  state  boundaries 
are  only  imaginary  lines  and  that  some  kind  of  understanding 
is  indispensable  between  neighboring  states  for  some  forms  of 
sanitary  control,  such,  for  example,  as  the  purity  of  water 
supplies,  the  management  of  epidemics  and  the  regulation  of 
milk  and  other  food  products.  Likewise  the  management  of 
quarantine,  a  subject  of  importance  to  large  portions  of  the 
population  of  the  nation,  should  not  be  left  to  the  regulation  of 
any  particular  locality,  but  should  be  managed  in  accordance 
with  laws  which  are  general  for  the  common  welfare. 

First  and  foremost  among  the  defects  and  needs  of  public 
health  administration  must  be  placed  the  want  of  adequate 
knowledge  of  the  principles  and  practices  of  public  health  work 


GEORGE  A.  SOPER 


387 


on  the  part  of  officials  having  jurisdiction.  It  is  a  deplorable 
fact  that  special  professional  qualifications  are  not  as  a  rule 
required  of  health  officers  in  the  United  States. 

If  there  is  any  department  of  municipal  government  which 
should  be  taken  out  of  politics  and  put  upon  a  high  plane  of 
professional  efficiency,  it  is  public  health  work.  Generally,  in 
the  United  States,  appointment  upon  a  health  board  means  a 
thankless  and  gratuitous  service  performed  for  the  sake  of  the 
small  honor  which  is  supposed  to  go  with  it.  Where  a  salary 
is  connected  with  the  position  the  office  is  too  often  a  reward 
of  political  rather  than  professional  merit. 

Until  the  need  of  high  class  health  work  is  demanded,  appre- 
ciated and  properly  rewarded  by  compensation  in  money  and 
honor,  men  will  not  be  prepared  by  the  schools  for  a  lifework 
in  the  public  health  service,  and  the  most  needed  improvement 
in  the  work  of  boards  of  health  will  not  be  made. 


Pittsburgh's  Civic  Problem 


By  ROBERT  A.  WOODS 
South  End  House,  Boston 

In  the  progress  of  a  community,  as  in  the  prosecution  of 
personal  interests,  success  depends  not  merely  upon  knowing 
that  things  are  going  right  or  going  wrong,  but  upon  painstaking 
and  detailed  search  into  the  origin  and  nature  of  their  good  or 
evil  influence.  The  serious  difi&culty  about  the  American  city 
is  not  merely  that  its  administration  has  broken  down.  The 
very  conception  of  the  city  has  broken  down,  and  we  go  through 
its  streets  every  day  with  intentions  that  are  earnest  enough  but 
ineffectual  because  confused  and  out  of  date. 

The  Pittsburgh  Survey  was  undertaken  in  the  conviction  that 
the  time  had  arrived  for  the  study  of  one  of  the  most  typical 
American  cities  in  its  present-day  living  ensemble,  as  an  example 
of  what  must  be  done  in  all  our  cities.  The  results  of  the  Survey 
will  naturally  include,  with  the  ascertained  and  properly  arranged 
facts,  a  program  which  the  facts  demonstrate  to  be  essential 
quite  as  much  to  the  industrial  as  to  the  poUtical  and  moral 
future  of  the  city. 

The  source  of  the  marvelous  growth  and  power  of  Pittsburgh 
may  be  outlined  in  a  few  words :  unparalleled  material  resources ; 

an  unique  convergence  of  transportation  facil- 
The  Source  of  ities  connecting  all  sections  of  the  country ;  a 
Pittsburgh's  serious,  pertinacious,  ardent  people  for  the  kernel 
Growth  of  a  population  which  has  expanded  quickly 

and  amply  to  each  new  extension  of  industry 
by  a  process  of  natural  selection  of  vigorous  types  from  every 
European  nation;  the  insistent  and  unceasing  spur  of  a  world 
demand  for  two  or  three  of  the  fundamental  utilities  of  civiliza- 
tion. 

(388) 


ROBERT  A.  WOODS 


389 


These  characteristics  had  all  been  brought  to  their  highest 
significance  and  intensity  by  a  decade  of  unsurpassed  prosperity 
as  the  Survey  began.  The  specific  attention  of  the  Survey  has, 
in  the  nature  of  the  case,  been  fixed  upon  those  phases  of  the 
life  of  Pittsburgh,  which,  increasing  with  its  growth,  have,  under 
the  very  stress  of  that  growth,  not  been  soundly  grappled  with 
or  have  even  been  almost  entirely  overlooked. 

The  public  physical  well-being  is  coming  to  the  very  front  as 
an  issue  for  patriotic  foresight.  The  Pittsburgh  Survey  has 
thrown  new  and  clear  light  upon  the  subject  of  typhoid  fever 
which  has  been  epidemic  in  Pittsburgh  for  a  generation.  One 
of  the  direct  results  has  been  the  creation  of  a  special  commission 
of  experts  to  study  the  incidental  causes  of  that  disease,  now 
that  the  main  cause  is  being  lessened  by  the  great  filtration 
plant  which  Pittsburgh  has  installed.  The  Survey  has  gone  to 
the  bottom  of  the  situation  as  to  one  thousand  typical  cases  of 
industrial  accidents,  and,  aside  from  human  considerations,  will 
show  in  business  terms  the  reckless  and  needless  waste  of  seasoned 
and  disciplined  labor  force  that  is  involved.  Already  as  a  result, 
practical  stimulus  has  been  given  to  a  movement  for  a  work- 
men's compensation  act;  and,  better  still,  to  efforts  both  public 
and  private  toward  the  further  elimination  of  the  sources  of 
danger.  In  the  same  connection,  as  the  result  of  a  vast  amount 
of  detailed  inquiry,  the  Survey  will  exhibit  the  wholesale  squan- 
dering of  productive  power, — as  against  the  total  experience  of 
the  civilized  world, — involved  in  the  overstrain  of  the  twelve- 
hour  day  and  of  seven  days  work  in  a  week. 

To  provision,  clothe  and  shelter  an  army,  the  United  States 
learned  in  1898  may  sometimes  be  three-quarters  of  the  war. 
The  Pittsburgh  Survey  has  placed  experts  of  the  engineering 
grade  upon  these  aspects  of  Pittsburgh's  great  industrial  cam- 
paign. The  Survey  will  show  that  large  numbers  of  the  working 
class  families  of  the  city  are  living  in  places  unfit  for  human 
habitation  and  therefore  seriously  undermining  to  health,  pro- 
ductive power  and  character.  Moreover,  even  including  all 
such  places,  the  total  housing  capacity  of  the  city  is  insufficient 
now  and  will  soon  be  inadequate  to  the  extent  of  seriously  ham- 
pering the  growth  of  the  city's  industries  in  the  renewal  of  pros- 
perity. 


PITTSBURGH'S  CIVIC  PROBLEM 


The  abundant  supply  of  labor  has  established  in  many  cases  a 
low  standard  of  wages  and  a  low  standard  of  life  for  the  home 
and  the  local  community,  which  the  Survey  distinctly  shows  to 
be  unworthy  and  unprofitable  from  the  point  of  view  of  genuinely 
farsighted  economic  leadership.  The  Survey  finds  a  large  amount 
of  smoiildering  discontent  among  the  rank  and  file  of  the  indus- 
trial employees,  centering  upon  wages,  but  including  other  vital 
conditions  under  which  labor  in  the  great  plants  is  carried 
on;  and  it  definitely  propounds  the  question  whether  it  would 
not  be  wiser  to  allow  a  safety  valve  for  this  unrest  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  permitted  and  to  that  extent  responsible  trade 
unionism. 

Fresh  light  will  be  thrown  upon  the  fine  hvunan  traits  and 
possibilities  of  the  people  among  immigrant  nationalities  who 

make  up  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  population 
The  Immi-  of  the  greater  city;  and  the  value  to  the  corn- 
grant  Popu-  munity,  industrially  and  politically,  of  develop- 
lation  ing  their  varied  latent  powers  will  be  clearly 

outlined.  On  the  other  hand,  it  will  be  shoTVTi 
from  the  sheer  point  of  view  of  public  order  and  safety  that  this 
population  must  be  leavened  effectually  with  wholesome  and 
stimulating  influences  before  the  time  comes — and  it  will  soon 
come — when  into  their  hands  the  political  and  moral  destiny 
of  the  community  will  to  a  large  extent  be  placed. 

Pittsburgh  has  been  afflicted  with  the  same  political  evils  as 
other  American  cities.  The  recent  extension  of  the  city  into 
the  greater  Pittsburgh  may  for  a  time  embarrass  the  reform 
movement  which  is  so  substantially  embodied  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  Mayor  Guthrie.  The  hope  of  the  future  politically  is 
in  the  application  to  the  great  new  collective  needs  of  an  essen- 
tially new  metropolitan  community,  of  some  of  that  practical 
individual  and  corporate  sagacity  which  among  all  classes  of 
Pittsburgh  people  has  been  thrown  so  strongly  into  industrial 
affairs.  One  of  the  best  assurances  of  progress  in  this  direction 
lies  in  the  steady  and  dominating  purpose  of  the  Pittsburgh 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  reinforced  throughout  the  city  by  alert 
and  active  local  boards  of  trade. 

The  ten  years  which  have  brought  in  the  city's  phenome- 


ROBERT  A.  WOODS 


391 


nal  industrial  expansion  have  established  as  permeating  and 
permanent  influences  in  the  city  the  services 
Permeating        of  the  Carnegie  institutions — the  library,  the 
Influences  music  hall,  the  art  gallery,  the  natural  history 

museum  and  the  technical  institute.  Better 
still,  this  period  has  started  into  action,  through  the  normal, 
democratic  initiative  of  public  spirited  citizens,  many  excellent 
agencies  for  social  service  devoted  to  that  ultimate  and  funda- 
mental municipal  reform — the  training  of  the  sovereign  elec- 
torate. In  the  last  analysis  the  growth  of  strong  human  and 
humanizing  influence  in  Pittsburgh  lies  in  the  fact  that  the 
deep  moral  energy  of  the  established  element  of  Pittsburgh 
people — often  slow  moving  and  belated,  but,  when  once  aroused 
inflexible  and  indomitable — is  beginning  to  be  positively  engaged 
and  involved  in  the  present  issue. 

We  all  remember  how  Chicago,  on  account  of  some  of  the 
crude  moral  by-products  of  its  growth,  came  to  be  an  object  of 
scorn  from  many  sources  at  home  and  abroad.  By  creating  the 
World's  Fair  and  by  the  exceptionally  intelligent  organization 
of  civic  and  social  betterment,  Chicago  has  compelled  the  respect 
of  the  country  and  the  world.  Pittsburgh  succeeded  Chicago 
as  the  chosen  example  of  the  cynics;  Pittsburgh  is  earnestly,  and 
with  that  unparalleled  Pittsburgh  productive  instinct,  taking  to 
heart  these  large  plans  for  associated  and  public  enterprise  through 
which  alone,  as  all  the  world  is  finding,  a  twentieth  century  city's 
prosperity  goes  hand  in  hand  with  its  honor. 


The  Civic  Responsibilities  of  Democracy  in 
an  Industrial  District 


PAUL  U.  KELLOGG 
Director  of  the  Pittsburgh  Survey  and  Associate  Editors 
Charities  and  the  Commons 

American  spread-eagleism  has  matured  notably  in  the  past 
ten  years,  but  there  is  still  youth  and  ginger  enough  in  it  to  make 
my  first  postulate  simply  this — that  the  civic  responsibilities  of 
democracy  in  an  industrial  district  are  to  come  abreast  of  and 
improve  upon  any  community  standards  reached  under  any  other 
system  of  government;  and,  second,  to  do  this  in  a  democratic 
way  as  distinct  from  a  despotic  or  paternalistic  way. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  spend  a  week  the  past  summer  in 
Essen  and  other  industrial  towns  of  the  Rhenish- Westphalia 
district  of  Germany,  following  something  over  a  year  spent  in 
the  Pittsburgh  District.  I  fancy  that  in  our  attitude  toward  the 
old  countries,  we  are  inclined  to  regard  their  cities  as  long  estab- 
lished and  to  find  justification  for  any  lapses  of  our  own  in  the 
newness  of  America.  But  Essen,  for  instance, 
Essen  as  an  industrial  center  is  new.    The  chronology 

of  the  development  of  the  steel  industry  there 
is  not  altogether  different  from  that  of  the  same  industry  in 
Pittsburgh;  and  one  of  the  great  problems  of  Fried.  Krupp 
was  to  mobiHze  and  hold  within  reach  of  his  furnaces  and  rolls 
a  large  and  efficient  working  population.  Entering  the  indus- 
trial field  generations  later  than  England,  German  manufacturers 
have  not  had  a  trained  working  force  ready  to  hand.  Krupp 
had  to  draw  his  men  from  the  cotmtry  districts — healthy, 
unskilled  peasants,  vmused  to  quick  handling  of  their  muscles, 

(392) 


PAUL  U.  KELLOGG 


393 


unused  to  working  indoors,  unused  to  machinery,  unused  to 
living  in  large  communities.  The  wages  offered,  as  against  the 
wages  of  agricultural  districts,  drew  them  there;  he  must  keep 
them  there  out  of  reach  of  his  competitors,  and  he  must  see  that 
they  worked  at  the  top  notch  of  their  efficiency.  It  was  a  loss 
to  Herr  Krupp  when  a  man  with  five  years'  training  in  his  works 
left  Essen,  or  was  sick,  or  was  maimed. 

As  a  town,  Essen  was  unprepared  to  absorb  this  great  new 
industrial  population.  There  were  not  houses  enough;  the  new- 
comers were  sheltered  abominably  and  charged 
And  its  Great  exorbitant  rents  by  the  local  landlords.  There 
Working  Force  weren't  food  supplies  enough  within  reach  of 
the  growing  city,  and  the  workers  had  to  buy 
poor  bread  and  bad  meat  and  pay  heavily  for  them.  The  town 
hadn't  enough  sanitary  appliances  to  dispose  of  the  waste 
which  a  congregation  of  individuals  sloughs  off  and  which,  if 
not  properly  disposed  of,  breeds  disease.  The  high  rents  and 
high  provisions  pared  away  must  of  the  incentive  in  the  wages 
which  must  attract  this  working  force  to  Essen;  poor  houses 
and  poor  food  made  directly  for  stupid,  half-roused  workers  and 
for  poor  work.  Primarily  as  a  business  proposition,  then,  Herr 
Krupp  started  that  group  of  social  institutions  which  have  since 
been  expanded  from  one  motive  or  another,  imtil  they  supply  an 
infinite  variety  of  wants  to  the  Essen  workers.  The  firm  bought 
up  successive  plots  of  land,  laid  them  out,  sewered  them,  parked 
them,  and  today,  at  the  end  of  fifty  years,  over  thirty  thousand 
persons  are  living  in  houses  belonging  to  the  Essen  works  (ten 
thousand  of  the  sixty  thousand  Krupp  employees  are  thus 
supplied).  There  has  been  a  growth  in  quality  as  well  as  in 
numbers  of  houses.  The  buildings  of  the  first  workmen's  colony. 
West  End,  are  rough,  crude  boxes ;  the  new  colonies  of  Alfredshof 
and  Friedrichshof  are  beautiful,  with  their  red  roofs,  graceful 
lines,  lawns,  housekeeping  conveniences  and  modest  rents.  Not 
less  than  seventy-seven  Krupp  supply  stores,  operated  on  a 
profit  sharing  basis,  sell  meat,  bread,  manufactured  goods  and 
household  furniture.  One  of  the  greatest  bakeries  in  Germany 
is  operated  on  a  cost  basis,  and  there  are  slaughter  houses,  flour 
mills,  ice  making  establishments,  tailor  shops,  etc. 


394 


CIVIC  RESPONSIBILITIES  OF  DEMOCRACY 


This  welfare  work  of  the  Krupps  has  not  succeeded  in  keeping 
either  trade  unionism  or  sociaHsm  out  of  the  ranks  of  the 
Essen's  working  force ;  it  has  tended  to  put  the  workers 

Welfare  ^  position  of  semi-feudal  dependence  for  com- 

-^^^^  forts  and  to  sap  their  initiative,  and  in  those 

bearings  it  is  not  in  accord  with  American  ideas ; 
but  it  has  served  to  gather  at  Essen,  to  keep  there,  and  to  keep 
there  at  a  high  standard  of  working  efficiency,  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  labor  forces  in  Germany. 

It  is  solely  the  latter  aspect  of  the  case  that  concerns  us  here. 
I  think  it  is  agreed  that  when  it  comes  to  armor  plate,  I-beams, 
tubes,  or  rails,  the  Pittsburgh  steel  plants  can  beat  the  world. 
But  a  week's  stay  among  the  Krupp  colonies  at  Essen  brings 
with  it  the  conviction  that  we  in  America  have  considerable 
distance  to  go  if  we  are  to  match  the  Germans  in  the  science  of 
improved  community  conditions.  The  question  is  how  some 
of  these  higher  standards  can  be  worked  out  in  an  American 
industrial  district  where  one  corporation  does  not  dominate; 
where  you  are  dealing  with  a  much  greater  aggregation  of  people 
spread  over  a  much  greater  territory,  and  where  you  must 
work  out  your  solution  in  democratic  ways  through  democratic 
agencies. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  much  that  I  say  of  Pittsburgh 
is  true  of  practically  all  our  industrial  centers;  our  severest 
criticism  of  any  one  comes  not  from  a  comparison  with  its 
fellows,  but  from  a  comparison  of  the  haphazard  development 
of  its  social  institutions  with  the  splendid  organic  development 
of  its  industrial  enterprises.  And  more,  in  the  methods  and 
scope  of  progressive  business  organizations  we  have  some  of  the 
most  suggestive  clues  as  to  ways  of  municipal  progress.  I  can 
cover  only  a  few  points  in  the  time  allotted  and  these  will  be 
more  effective  if  I  use  as  my  text  the  concrete  conditions  in 
Pittsburgh  with  which  I  am  most  familiar.^ 

'  The  findings  of  the  Pittsburgh  Survey  are  to  be  published  in  three 
special  numbers  of  Charities  and  the  Commons,  January,  February  and 
March,  1909,  and  later  in  volumes  issued  by  The  Russell  Sage  Founda- 
tion.— Editor. 


PAUL  U.  KELLOGG 


395 


My  first  point  has  to  do  with  administrative  areas.  The  most 
effective  city  administration  cannot  act  to  advantage  unless  the 
units  through  which  it  operates  are  workable 
Administrative  and  bear  some  relation  to  the  function  they 
Areas  are  designed  to  perform.    The  radius  of  the  old 

time  city,  as  one  English  writer  has  pointed 
out,  was  the  distance  you  could  walk  from  your  work  in  the 
center  to  a  home  convenient  in  the  outskirts.  Today,  for  most 
purposes,  a  city  is  a  rapid  transit  proposition.  For  most  pur- 
poses, a  municipal  area  can  be  governed  most  effectively  if  it 
includes  all  such  districts  as  can  be  reached  by  city  workers,  by 
subway,  steam,  or  surface  lines.  The  movement  for  a  greater 
Pittsburgh  which,  within  the  last  year,  has  been  advanced  by 
the  merging  of  Allegheny  and  the  movement  for  a  greater 
Birmingham,  which  is  now  in  progress  in  the  corresponding 
English  industrial  center,  are  recognitions  of  this  fact.  The 
police,  fire — in  fact,  every  department  of  municipal  activity  is 
oramped  and  rendered  less  effective  by  restricted  bounds. 

But  for  certain  functional  activities  much  wider  areas  must  be 
covered.  The  sanitary  inspection  force  of  Cleveland,  for  instance, 
inspects  dairies  and  slaughter-houses  throughout  all  that  part 
of  Ohio  that  supplies  the  Cleveland  market,  in  contrast  to  the 
Pittsburgh  inspection  service  which  is  at  present  only  able  to 
inspect  supplies  as  they  come  into  the  city  and  sources  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood.  Again,  the  sewer  and  water  problem 
of  Pittsburgh  is  a  water-shed  problem.  One  hundred  and  twenty- 
nine  towns  and  boroughs  are  dumping  their  sewage  into  the 
rivers  which  run  past  Pittsburgh  and  from  which  Pittsburgh 
must  draw  its  water.  No  one  of  these  governmental  units  can 
work  out  its  sanitary  problem  alone.  Close  coordination  of  sani- 
tary work  is  needed  throughout  the  whole  river  district. 

There  is  necessity,  then,  for  increasing  our  municipal  adminis- 
trative areas  and  for  relating  them  to  the  functions  which  must 
be  performed  through  them;  and  this  very  fact  raises  the  dis- 
tinctive civic  problem  of  creating  this  enlarged  municipal 
machinery,  without  sacrificing  that  local  loyalty  and  interest 
which  in  neighborhoods  and  smaller  districts  make  for  good 
government.    In  Pittsburgh  we  have  a  central  city — a  market 


396 


CIVIC  RESPONSIBILITIES  OF  DEMOCRACY 


and  office  center  with  groups  of  outlying  mill  towns  and  half- 
agricultural  districts  between.  The  opponents  of  city  congestion 
would  break  up  all  our  big  urban  centers  into  such  an  open-work 
structure;  and  if  the  citizenship  of  the  Pittsburgh  steel  district 
can  work  out  effective  methods  of  government  and  high  stand- 
ards of  community  well-being  for  this  ganglion  of  working  com- 
munities, it  will  have  made  an  original  contribution  to  municipal 
science. 

But  let  us  look  more  carefully  at  this  question  of  area  as 
applied  to  the  functioning  of  particular  social  institutions.  We 

have  the  theory  in  America,  for  instance,  that 
The  Common  common  school  education  should  be  supplied 
School  System    by  the  public,  and  to  this  end,  besides  state 

subsidies  and  other  revenues,  a  general  millage 
is  laid  on  all  taxable  property  in  Pittsburgh  for  the  salaries 
of  teachers  and  for  other  general  expenses.  But  the  actual 
operation  of  the  schools  continues  on  an  old  vestry  system  of 
ward  control — a  system  given  up  by  Boston,  Cleveland,  Chicago, 
Baltimore  and  other  cities  of  Pittsburgh's  class,  because  the 
ward  has  proved  an  ineffective  administrative  unit.  Let  us  see 
how  it  works  in  Pittsburgh.  Each  ward  lays  and  collects  a 
tax  on  property  within  its  limits  for  the  erection  and  mainte- 
nance of  school  buildings.  Thus,  ward  two  in  the  business 
district,  with  a  total  of  only  363  pupils,  can  draw  on  property 
with  an  assessed  valuation  of  $37,491,708;  while  ward  fourteen, 
with  2423  children,  can  draw  on  property  worth  $34,264,077 
(less  taxable  property  and  seven  times  as  many  children) ;  while 
ward  thirty-one  has  1173  children  and  only  $3,074,085  in 
assessed  property  (or  three  times  as  many  children  as  ward  two 
and  not  one-tenth  the  taxable  property).  No  wonder,  then, 
that  the  valuation  of  school  buildings  and  equipment  ranges 
from  approximately  $41  per  school  child  in  the  thirty-first  ward 
to  $1033  per  school  child  in  the  second;  and  the  income  for 
maintenance  of  buildings,  etc.,  from  $6  per  school  child  in  the 
thirty-fifth  ward  to  $84  per  school  child  in  the  first.  No  wonder, 
then,  that  in  these  ward-school  buildings  and  their  equipment 
there  is  the  utmost  divergence.  Our  investigators  found  build- 
ings every  room  of  which  was  overcrowded,  with  children  sitting 


PAUL  U.  KELLOGG 


397 


on  benches,  with  chairs  in  the  aisles;  wards  in  which  basement 
rooms  were  thrown  into  commission  without  adequate  heat, 
light,  desks  or  ventilation;  schools  unconnected  with  the  sewer; 
schools  without  fire-proofing,  without  fire  escapes,  without  fire 
drills — all  these  in  contrast  to  progressive  schools  in  other  wards 
with  first  rate  equipment,  small  classes,  good  plumbing  and 
adequate  light.  Wards  which  have  the  most  children,  whose 
children  have  the  least  cultural  environment  and  stimulus  at 
home,  have,  many  of  them,  the  least  resources  to  tax  for  school 
purposes.  By  an  out-worn  system  of  ward  control  and  taxation, 
then,  the  teaching  force  of  Pittsburgh  is  supplied  in  districts 
where  the  work  is  hardest  with  schoolhouses  and  other  tools 
which  are  least  effective.  Some  districts  have  schools  which 
in  equipment  and  spirit  rank  with  any  in  the  country;  while  in 
some  the  school  plants  ought  to  be  scrapped  offhand. 

Turn  to  another  social  institution — the  hospitals.  We  can 
conceive  that  the  first  service  of  hospitals  is  to  be  accessible  to 

the  sick  and  injured,  and  that  an  adequate 
The  Hospital  hospital  system  should  at  all  times  be  quickly 
and  available  to  the  people  who  may  have  use  for 

Ambulances       it.    We  can  compare  it  with  the  efficiency  of 

the  telephone  company  which,  through  sub- 
exchanges,  centrals  and  private  connections,  reaches  effectively 
every  district.  How  stands  the  case  with  the  hospitals  of  Pitts- 
burgh.? The  city  is  served  by  a  group  of  private  institutions, 
many  of  them  adequately  equipped  and  progressively  managed ; 
but  there  is  no  system  of  coordination  between  them,  either  in 
the  operation  of  their  free  wards  or  in  the  maintenance  of  an 
effective  ambulance  service.  New  hospitals  are  erected  under 
the  eaves  of  old  hospitals.  Sick  and  injured  people  are  carried 
long,  unnecessary  distances  at  great  risk.  Seven  new  hospitals 
are  going  up  in  Pittsburgh  and  yet,  when  they  are  all  completed 
and  other  changes  which  have  been  decided  upon  are  carried 
out,  there  will  be  a  great  belt  of  river  wards,  thickly  populated, 
without  a  convenient  hospital  plant — wards  in  which  we  shall 
see  disease  is  most  rife.  This  failure  of  a  coordination  of  hospital 
work  in  Pittsburgh  is  appreciated  by  a  number  of  the  most 
progressive  superintendents,  and  no  one  would  welcome  more 


398  CIVIC  RESPONSIBILITIES  OF  DEMOCRACY 


than  they  a  movement  to  interlock  the  hospital  service  of  the 
city  in  some  effective  way. 

Another  point  of  contrast  between  Pittsburgh,  the  industrial 
center,  and  Pittsburgh,  the  community,  lies  in  the  progressive- 
ness  and  invention  which  have  gone  into  the  details  of  one  and 
the  other;  for  instance,  aldermen's  courts  which  dispense  justice 

to  the  working  population  in  Pittsburgh  and 
Antiquated  deal  with  the  minor  civil  business  of  a  city  of 
Aldermen's  half  a  million.  They  serve  very  well  in  an 
Courts  agricultural  district.    They  are  of  the  vintage 

of  the  village  blacksmith.  But  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  few  well  conducted  courts,  the  forty  or  more  ward  courts 
may  be  said  to  clutter  up  and  befog  the  course  of  minor  justice, 
and  to  be  an  exasperation  in  the  conduct  of  civil  business.  They 
add  to  rather  than  subtract  from  the  business  of  the  higher 
courts,  and  there  is  no  effective  supervision  of  their  operation. 
They  compare  with  the  new  municipal  courts  of  Chicago  about 
as  the  open  forges  of  King  John's  time  compare  with  a  Bessemer 
converter. 

Again — Pittsburgh  is  the  second  city  in  Pennsylvania  in 
point  of  population;  in  some  respects  it  is  the  center  of  the 

most  marvelous  industrial  district  in  the  world . 
Factory  Thousands  of  men  and  women  are  engaged  in 

Inspection  hundreds  of  processes.    But  the  state  factory 

Headquarters     inspection  department  has  not  so  much  as  an 

office  in  this  city.  There  are  inspectors,  but  they 
are  not  easily  get-at-able  for  the  workingman  who  may  be  labor- 
ing under  unsanitary  conditions  or  with  unprotected  machinery, 
or  the  citizen  who  may  know  of  violations  of  the  factory  acts 
which  he  conceives  it  his  duty  to  report.  My  conception  of  an 
adequate  labor  department  office  in  Pittsburgh  is  more  than 
that  of  an  industrial  detective  bureau.  My  conception  is  rather 
that  of  a  headquarters,  with  an  adequate  force  of  technicians 
and  physicians  who  would  be  constantly  studying  the  work 
processes  of  the  district  with  the  idea  of  eliminating,  wherever 
possible,  those  conditions  which  make  for  disease ;  with  labora- 
tory facilities  for  experiment  and  demonstration  of  protective 
devices  calculated  to  reduce  accidents;  drawing,  to  this  end, 


PAUL  U.  KELLOGG 


399 


upon  the  industrial  experiences  of  the  whole  world .  The  factory 
inspector's  office  in  Birmingham,  for  instance,  is  in  close  coopera- 
tion with  courts,  with  employers  and  with  workmen.  Within 
three  years,  its  suggestions  have  reduced  the  number  of  deaths 
due  to  one  variety  of  crane  from  21  to  3. 

The  old  time  city  built  a  wall  about  it.  That  kept  out  invaders. 
The  invaders  of  a  modem  city  are  infectious  diseases.  In  the 
development  of  sanitary  service  and  bureaus  of  health  of  wide 
powers  and  unquestioned  integrity,  the  modem  city  is  erecting 
its  most  effective  wall.  In  Pittsburgh,  the  health  authority  is 
still  a  subordinate  bureau  without  control  over  appointments 

and  without  that  final  authority  which  should 
The  Wall  go  with  its  supreme  responsibility  toward  the 

of  the  health  of  500,000  people.    Until  the  present 

Modem  City       incumbent  was  appointed,  there  had  seldom 

or  never  been  a  physician  at  the  head  of  this 
bureau.  For  five  years  there  had  not  been  so  much  as  an  annual 
report.  Two-thirds  of  the  appropriations  to  the  Pittsburgh 
Health  Bureau  are  today  engrossed  in  a  garbage  removal  con- 
tract over  which  the  superintendent  has  no  control.  With  such 
an  inadequate  barricade,  we  can  imagine  that  disease  has  sacked 
Pittsburgh  throughout  the  years ;  and  comparison  of  death  rate 
with  four  cities  of  corresponding  size — Boston,  Baltimore,  Cleve- 
land, St.  Louis — for  the  past  five  years,  shows  this  to  have  been 
the  case.  In  her  average  death  rate  per  100,000  for  typhoid 
fever,  diarrhoea  and  enteritis,  Pittsburgh  was  first  and  highest. 
Pittsburgh  was  only  fourth  or  next  to  the  lowest  in  the  list  in 
pulmonary  tuberculosis;  but  in  penumonia,  in  bronchitis  and 
other  diseases  of  the  respiratory  system;  and  in  violence  other 
than  sviicide,  Pittsburgh  was  highest.  To  retrieve  the  lost 
ground  of  years  of  neglect  of  health  conditions  has  been  a  task 
upon  which  the  present  superintendent  of  the  Pittsburgh  Bureau 
of  Health  has  entered,  but  it  is  a  task  in  which  the  city  must 
invest  increasing  resources.  For  such  work  needs  more  than  a 
health  bureau.    It  needs  a  Health  Department. 

My  point,  then,  is  that  democracy  must  overhaul  the  social 
machinery  through  which  it  operates  if  it  would  bring  its  com- 
munity conditions  up  to  standards  comparable  to  those  main- 


400  CIVIC  RESPONSIBILITIES  OF  DEMOCRACY 


tained  by  its  banks,  its  insurance  companies  and  its  industrial 
corporations. 

There  are  at  least  two  tests  to  which  the  community  can  put 
such  social  machinery.    The  first  is  that  of  operating  efficiency. 

In  hospitals,  in  schools,  in  municipal  depart- 
Tests  of  Good  ments,  units  of  work  and  out-put  can  be  worked 
Government  out  as  definitely  as  are  the  tons  of  steel  workers, 
the  voltage  of  the  electricians,  the  dollars  and 
cents  of  the  banks.  By  vigorous  systems  of  audit  and  intelligent 
systems  of  budget-making,  understandable  to  the  ordinary 
citizen,  the  community  can  see  to  it  that  the  out-put  of  these 
social  institutions  is  comparable  with  the  investment  it  makes 
in  them;  that  the  tax  payer  gets  his  money's  worth.  The 
Bureau  of  Municipal  Research  in  New  York  embodies  this  idea 
in  its  program  which,  as  I  understand  it,  will  be  put  before  the 
convention  at  a  later  session. 

There  is  another,  equally  intensive  test  to  which  social  institu- 
tions and  sanitary  conditions  can  be  put.  It  is  conceivable  that 
the  taxpayer  may  get  his  money's  worth  from  the  municipal 
government,  while  the  families  of  the  wage  earning  population 
and  householders  may  be  suffering  from  another  and  irreparable 
form  of  taxation,  which  only  increased  municipal  expenditure 
along  certain  lines  could  relieve.  So  it  is  that  while  I  subscribe 
to  the  movement  for  stiffer  standards  of  municipal  accounting 
as  a  basis  for  effective  government,  for  knowing  the  waste  of 
a  city's  money,  I  subscribe  further  to  the  movement  for  such 
methods  of  social  bookkeeping  as  will  show  us  the  larger  waste 
of  human  life,  and  private  means;  and  will  stand  out  not  only  for 
honesty  and  efficiency,  but  for  the  common  well-being. 

Let  me  illustrate  in  the  case  of  typhoid  fever  which  has  been 
epidemic  in  Pittsburgh  for  twenty-five  years.  To  eliminate  ty- 
phoid Pittsburgh  has  erected  a  five  and  one-half 
Typhoid  Fever  million  dollar  filtration  plant,  for  the  years  of 
delay  in  the  erection  of  which  the  city  has  suffered 
a  terrible  toll  of  deaths  and  misery.  Last  month  there  were  but 
96  cases  of  typhoid  in  Pittsburgh  as  against  593  for  October, 
1907.  One  of  my  associates  has  figured  out  that  if  the  men, 
women  and  children  who  have  died  from  typhoid  fever  in  the 


PAUL  U.  KELLOGG 


401 


last  twenty- five  years  in  Pittsbvirgh — and  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  majority  of  these  deaths  have  been  needless — that  if 
these  people  were  to  stand  four  feet  apart,  they  would  form  a 
line  running  from  the  court  house  to  the  new  filtration  plant, 
a  distance  of  over  six  miles.  There  were  5421  cases  of  typhoid 
fever  in  Pittsburgh  last  year  and  622  deaths.  Computing  death 
rate  per  100,000  population  for  the  larger  cities  having  the 
highest  rates  in  1901,  Pittsburgh  was  first  with  124,  New  Haven 
second,  Allegheny  third;  in  1902,  Pittsburgh  was  first,  Allegheny 
second,  Washington  third;  in  1903,  Pittsburgh  first,  Cleveland 
was  second,  Allegheny  third;  in  1904  Columbus  was  first,  Pitts- 
burgh second,  Allegheny  third;  in  1905,  Allegheny  was  first, 
Pittsburgh  second  and  Columbus  third;  in  1906,  Pittsburgh  was 
first,  and  Allegheny  second.  Buteven  these  comparisons,  startling 
as  they  are,  fail  to  afford  a  grasp  of  the  meaning  of  this  typhoid 
scourge  in  the  lives  of  the  wage  earners  of  Pittsburgh.  The 
Pittsburgh  Survey  undertook  to  gauge  this.  In  cooperation 
with  Columbian  Settlement,  we  collected  data  for  six  wards  for 
a  year,  showing  the  proportion  of  wage  earners  among  typhoid 
patients,  the  income  before  and  since,  the  number  of  weeks  sick, 
the  loss  in  wages  by  patients  and  by  those  who  are  obliged  to 
give  up  work  to  care  for  them,  sickness  expenditure  for  doctors, 
nurses,  medicines,  foods,  funerals;  and  the  less  tangible,  but 
even  more  severe  tax  involved  in  lessened  vitaUty,  lessened 
earning  power,  and  broken  up  homes,  which  follow  in  the  wake 
of  typhoid.  Of  1029  cases  in  six  wards  reported  in  one  year, 
448  cases  were  found  and  studied.  Of  these  26  died.  One 
hundred  and  eighty-seven  wage  earners  lost  1901  weeks'  work. 
Other  wage  earners,  not  patients,  lost  322  weeks — a  total  loss  in 
wages  of  $28,899.  The  cost  of  90  patients  treated  in  hospitals 
at  public  or  private  expense  was  $4165;  of  338  patients  cared 
for  at  home,  $21,000  in  doctor's  bills,  nurses,  ice,  foods,  medicines; 
of  26  funerals,  $3186,  a  total  cost  of  $57,250  in  less  than  half 
the  cases  of  six  wards  in  one  year — wards  in  which  both  income 
and  sickness  expense  were  at  a  minimum.  But  there  were  other 
even  more  serious  drains  which  do  not  admit  of  tabulation.  A 
girl  of  22,  who  worked  on  stogies,  was  left  in  a  very  nervous 
condition,  not  as  strong  as  before,  and  consequently  she  could 


402  CIVIC  RESPONSIBILITIES  OF  DEMOCRACY 


not  attain  her  former  speed.  A  blacksmith  will  probably  never 
work  at  his  trade  with  his  former  strength.  A  i6  year  old  girl 
who  developed  tuberculosis  was  left  in  a  weakened  physical 
condition.  A  tailor  who  cannot  work  as  long  hours  as  before 
was  reduced  $i.oo  a  week  in  wages.  A  boy  of  eight  was  very 
nervous,  would  not  sit  still  in  school  and  was  rapidly  becoming  a 
truant.  A  mother  developed  a  case  of  pneumonia  from  over- 
exposure in  caring  for  children  who  had  the  fever,  and  has  not 
been  well  since.  So  the  story  goes — very  real  to  the  lives  of 
the  many  who  are  so  intimately  concerned.  The  money  losses 
can  be  replaced.  My  figures  include  no  estimate  of  the  value 
of  human  lives  lost.  But  it  is  impossible  to  compute  in  terms 
of  dollars  and  cents,  what  it  means  to  a  family  to  have  the 
father's  health  so  broken  that  he  cannot  work  at  his  old  job, 
but  has  to  accept  easier  work  at  less  pay.  It  is  impossible  to 
put  in  tabulated  form  the  total  values  to  a  family  of  a  mother's 
health,  and  strike  a  proper  balance  when  typhoid  has  left  her 
a  physical  or  nervous  wreck.  It  is  impossible  to  estimate  what 
is  the  cost  to  a  boy  or  girl  who  is  obliged  to  leave  school  in 
order  to  help  suppport  the  family,  because  typhoid  has  incapaci- 
tated the  natural  breadwinners.  Such  facts  as  these  show  the 
drain  that  typhoid  has  been  on  the  vital  force  of  the  cotmnunity. 
It  is  only  one  of  such  drains. 

Such  facts  as  these  bring  home  concretely  to  the  average 
workingman  his  stake  in  good  government. 

It  is  not  possible  here  to  enter  into  a  discussion,  even  briefly, 
of  the  democratic  methods  by  which  a  community  can  im- 
prove the  quality  and  lessen  the  cost  of  its  food 
The  Demand  supplies  as  an  integral  part  of  the  program  for 
for  Shelter         building  up  a  vigorous  working  population. 

Pittsburgh  has  erected  a  filtration  plant  to  pro- 
vide clear  water,  and  the  dairy  contest  and  milk  exhibit  held 
last  month  in  this  city  are  indicative  of  ways  of  advance  in  clear- 
ing up  the  equally  contaminated  channels  of  milk  supply.  We 
can  go  further:  in  Baltimore  for  instance,  a  milk  show  was  held 
and  "dairy  specials"  were  nm  throughout  the  surrounding  terri- 
tory in  an  effort  to  multiply  dairy  farms  within  a  certain  radius  of 
Baltimore,  to  educate  the  ordinary  farmer  and  point  out  where 


PAUL  U.  KELLOGG  403 

he  could  make  his  stables  profitable,  and  to  encourage  the  pro- 
duction of  clean  milk  as  a  commodity  throughout  the  territory 
tributary  to  the  city.  Similarly  I  believe  an  active  commission, 
by  investigating  the  soils  and  location  of  unused,  unbuilt-up 
areas  in  the  neighborhood  of  Pittsburgh  and  the  methods  for 
facilitating  the  handling  of  garden  produce,  could  appreciably 
increase  the  marketable  supply  of  vegetables  and  make  the 
cost  of  living  of  the  Pittsburgh  District  a  reasonable  one,  instead 
of  what  the  government  reports  show  it  to  be — well-nigh  the 
highest  in  the  country.  There  is  a  direct  bearing  between  these 
costs  of  living  and  the  holding  power  of  the  wages  paid  in  the 
Pittsburgh  District. 

But  there  is  one  necessity  of  which  there  is  a  paramount 
shortage;  that  is  shelter.  I  should  like  you  to  compare  the 
efficiency  to  perform  the  function  for  which  it  is  devised  of  a 
modem  blast  furnace  and  the  shacks  which  house  some  of  the 
families  in  the  Pittsburgh  District.  The  output  of  the  one  is 
pig  iron ;  the  output  of  the  other,  home  Ufe  and  children.  Accord- 
ing to  the  tenement  house  census  carried  on  by  the  Pittsburgh 
Bureau  of  Health  the  past  summer,  there  are  3364  tenement 
houses  in  the  greater  city.  Nearly  50  per  cent  of  these  are  old 
dwellings  built  and  constructed  to  accommodate  one  family 
and  as  a  rule  without  conveniences  for  the  multiple  households 
now  crowded  into  them.  Let  me  give  you  an  example — a  house 
on  Bedford  avenue,  with  three  families  in  the  front  and  three 
in  the  rear,  negroes  and  whites.  The  owner  was  notified  over 
a  year  ago  that  the  building  must  be  repaired  and  certain  altera- 
tions be  made,  but  nothing  has  been  done,  and  by  the  veto  of 
the  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  of  a  bill  which 
Unsanitary  passed  the  last  legislature,  the  Bureau  of  Health 
Dwellings  has  no  power  to  condemn  such  unsanitary 

dwellings.  In  this  building,  two-room  apart- 
ments rent  for  $12  per  month.  Water  has  to  be  obtained  from 
a  hydrant  in  the  yard,  shared  by  eleven  families;  the  foul  privy 
vaults  are  also  shared  by  neighboring  families. 

Under  Dr.  Edwards'  administration  5063  such  privy  vaults 
have  been  filled  and  abandoned  in  Pittsburgh  and  8281  sanitary 
water  closets  installed  in  their  place.    The  work  is  less  than 


404  CIVIC  RESPONSIBILITIES  OF  DEMOCRACY 


half  done.  The  census  of  only  the  first  twenty  wards  of  the 
older  city  shows  a  total  of  nearly  6000  vaults  still  existing  in 
these  wards  alone.  Consider  the  contrast — these  old  ram- 
shackle, vmwholesome,  disease  breeding  appliances  of  the  back 
country  here  in  Pittsburgh,  the  city  of  the  great  engineers  and 
mechanical  invention  and  of  progress.  In  a  typhoid-ridden 
neighborhood,  a  vault  is  an  open  menace  to  health.  Investiga- 
tions in  army  camps  and  in  given  neighborhoods  in  Chicago  have 
proved  that  insects  carry  disease  from  such  places  to  the  tables 
and  living  rooms  of  the  people.  If  these  existing  vaults  in 
Greater  Pittsburgh  were  combined  into  one  cubic  receptacle, 
they  would  make  a  vault  as  big  as  the  Frick  Building.  The 
estimate  is  an  unpleaant  one;  but  it  gives  more  graphically 
than  figures  an  idea  of  how  the  air  and  the  lives  of  the  people 
of  Pittsburgh  are  contaminated  by  the  survival  of  these  old 
appliances. 

There  are  three  points  which  I  should  like  you  to  consider  in 
connection  with  this  problem  of  shelter.  The  first  is  that  the 
Bureau  of  Health,  however  efficient  in  its  supervisory  work, 
cannot  meet  it  single  handed.  Even  if  through  the  activities 
of  the  Health  Bureau,  Tammany  Hall,  Yellow  Row  and  other  old 
shacks  have  been  torn  down,  even  if  the  owners  of  other  old  bviild- 
ings  are  made  to  install  sanitary  appliances,  the  situation  is  still 
unmet,  unless  new  houses — vast  quantities  of  new  houses — are 
erected  to  care  for  the  increased  population  which  has  flooded 
into  Pittsburgh  in  the  last  ten  years  and  which  there  is  every 
indication,  will  multiply  as  greatly  in  the  next  ten.  Ways  and 
methods  scientifically  to  meet  this  situation  are  to  be  discussed 
in  Mr.  Atterbury's  address. 

My  second  point  is  that  this  haphazard  method  of  letting  the 
housing  supply  take  care  of  itself  is  a  monetary  drawback  to  the 
merchants  of  the  city.  In  the  first  place,  it  radically  reduces  the 
margin  which  the  workingman's  family  has  to  spend  for  com- 
modities. Especially  is  this  true  of  immigrant  tenants,  who 
are  obUged  to  pay  more  than  English-speaking.  For  instance, 
on  Bass  street,  Allegheny,  we  foimd  Slavs  paying  $20  per  month 
for  four  rooms  as  against  Si 5  paid  by  Americans.  In  the  second 
place,  it  puts  a  premium  on  the  single  men,  drifters,  lodgers. 


PAUL  U.  KELLOGG 


405 


as  against  the  man  with  a  family.  The  immigrant  boarders 
who  rent  from  a  boarding  boss,  and  sleep  eight  to  ten  in  a  room, 
or  sleep  at  night  in  the  beds  left  vacant  by  the  night  workers  who 
occupied  them  throughout  the  day — such  fellows  can  make 
money  in  the  Pittsburgh  District.  But  the  immigrant  who 
wants  to  make  his  stake  here,  bring  his  family  over,  create  a 
household,  must  pay  $10  or  $15  a  month  for  rooms;  and  must 
pay  high  prices  for  all  the  other  necessities  of  life.  If  I  were 
asked  by  what  means  the  merchants  of  Pittsburgh  could  increase 
the  volume  of  purchases  of  the  buying  public,  I  should  say  that 
no  one  thing  would  affect  that  so  impressively  as  the  multiplica- 
tion of  households,  through  the  multiplication  of  low  cost,  low 
rental,  sanitary  houses  to  meet  the  needs  of  stable  family  groups 
as  against  the  transient  lodger. 

My  third  point  is  that  the  housing  problem  is  not  a  city  prob- 
lem alone.    It  is  repeated  in  each  of  the  mill  towns.    I  could 

cite  instances  in  Braddock,  Duquesne,  McKees- 
In  the  Mill  port,  Sharpsburg,  where  old  buildings  are  filthy 
Towns  and  overcrowded  and  where  new  buildings  are 

put  up  in  violation  of  every  canon  of  scientific 
housing — back-to-back  houses  such  as  were  condemned  in 
England  75  years  ago  as  breeding  places  of  disease.  Home- 
stead, for  instance,  has  no  ordinance  against  overcrowding,  no 
ordinance  requiring  adequate  water  supply,  or  forbidding  privy 
vaults  in  congested  neighborhoods.  The  foreigners  live  in  the 
second  ward  between  the  river  and  the  railroads.  In  twenty- 
two  courts  studied  in  this  district,  only  three  houses  had  running 
water  inside  the  house.  One  hundred  and  ten  people  were  found 
using  one  yard  pump.  Fifty-one  out  of  239  families  lived  in 
one  room  each.  Twenty-six  of  the  two-room  apartments  were 
used  by  eight  or  more  people ;  one  two-room  apartment  sheltered 
13;  two,  12;  two,  II.  A  crude  reflection  of  the  effect  of  these 
conditions  is  indicated  by  the  death  rate  in  this  second  ward. 
Of  every  three  children  born  there  one  dies  before  it  reaches 
the  age  of  two  years,  as  against  one  in  every  six  in  the  rest  of 
Homestead,  where  detached,  and  livable  dwellings  prevail. 

This  comparison  of  health  conditions  in  a  small  town  is  true  in 
a  large,  cruel  way  of  Pittsburgh  itself.    In  cooperation  with 


4o6  CIVIC  RESPONSIBILITIES  OF  DEMOCRACY 


the  Typhoid  Fever  Commission  we  have  analyzed  by  wards  the 
death  certificates  of  people  dying  in  Pittsburgh 
The  Gamble       for  the  past  five  years.    We  have  grouped 
of  Health  these  wards  into  districts,  the  Hving  conditions 

of  which  are  more  or  less  of  a  kind.  Let  me 
compare  the  mortaUty  figures  of  wards  nine  and  ten  and 
twelve — a  group  of  river  wards  in  the  old  city,  near  the  mills, 
peopled  for  the  most  part  with  a  wage  earning  population  of 
small  income — compare  these  wards  with  ward  twenty-two,  a  new 
residential  district  in  the  East  End.  What  are  the  chances  of 
life  of  the  men,  women,  and  children  Uving  in  the  one  and  in 
the  other?  The  chance  of  a  man's  dying  of  bronchitis  in  the 
river  wards  is  two  and  a  half  as  against  one  in  the  East  End,  it 
is  four  of  his  dying  from  penumonia  as  against  one  in  the  East 
End,  five  of  his  dying  of  typhoid  as  against  one  in  the  East  End, 
six  of  his  dying  a  violent  death  as  against  one  in  the  East  End. 
These  are  rough  proportions  merely,  but  they  are  of  terrific 
significance.  Our  American  boast  that  everybody  has  an  eqtial 
chance  falls  flat  before  them.  The  dice  are  loaded  in  Pittsburgh 
when  it  comes  to  a  man's  health ;  his  health  is  the  workingman's 
best  asset ;  and  the  health  and  vigor  of  its  working  population  are 
in  the  long  rtm  the  vital  and  irrecoverable  resources  of  an  indus- 
trial center. 

This  brings  us  to  a  point  where  we  can  define  more  concretely 
the  plain,  civic  responsibiUty  of  democracy  in  an  industrial  dis- 
trict. That  responsibility  is  to  contrive  and  to  operate  the 
social  machinery  of  the  commimity,  and  to  make  living  conditions 
in  the  district,  such  as  will  attract  and  hold  a  strong  and  vigorous 
labor  force  for  the  industries  on  which  the  prosperity  of  the 
district  must  depend.  Here  Ues  the  responsibihty  of  the  com- 
munity to  the  individual  manufacturer — and  the  responsibihty 
of  the  community  to  its  own  future — that  the  efficiency  of  its 
workers  shall  not  be  mortgaged  before  they  go  to  work  in  the 
morning. 

This  carries  a  coimter  responsibihty.  In  the  interests  of  the 
community  as  a  whole,  in  the  interests  of  all  the  industries  as 
against  the  interests  of  any  single  one,  the  pubUc  cannot  afford 
to  have  such  a  working  force  impaired  or  wasted  by  tmsanitary 


PAUL  U.  KELLOGG 


407 


or  health  taxing  conditions  during  the  working  hours.   What  I 
mean  will  perhaps  be  clearest  by  illustrating 
The  Human       in  the  case  of  industrial  accidents.  Pittsburgh 
Waste  of  cannot  afford  to  have  over  500  workingmen 

Industrial  killed  every  year  in  the  course  of  employment, 

Accidents  or  an  unknown  number  of  men  seriously  in- 

jured. During  the  past  year,  the  Pittsburgh 
Survey  has  made  an  intensive  inquiry  into  the  facts  surrounding 
the  deaths  of  the  entire  roster  of  men  killed  in  industry  during 
twelve  months,  and  of  the  accident  cases  treated  in  the  hospitals 
of  the  district  during  three  months — not  with  the  idea  of  raising 
anew  the  question  of  responsibility  for  particular  accidents,  but 
to  see  if  there  are  any  indications  as  to  whether  these  accidents 
could  be  prevented  and  whether  the  burden  of  them  falls  where 
in  justice  it  should.  The  work  has  been  done  by  a  staff  of  five 
people,  including  a  lawyer,  an  engineer  and  interpreters,  and  we 
have  had  the  cooperation  of  claim  agents,  superintendents, 
foremen,  trade  union  officials  and  others.  We  found  that  of  the 
526  men  killed  in  the  year  studied  in  Allegheny  county,  the  acci- 
dents fell  on  Americans  as  well  as  foreigners;  224  were  native 
bom.  The  ranks  of  steel  workers  and  train-men  suffer  most — the 
pick  of  theworkmen  in  the  district.  There  were  195  steel  workers 
killed,  125  railroad  men,  71  mine  workers,  and  135  in  other  occu- 
pations. It  was  found  that  it  was  the  yotmg  men  of  the  district 
who  went  down  in  the  course  of  industry.  Eighty- two  were  under 
20  years  of  age,  221  between  20  and  30.  Over  half  the  men  killed 
were  earning  less  than  $15  a  week,  a  fact  which  raises  the  question 
if  the  law  is  fair  in  assuming,  as  it  does  in  Pennsylvania,  that  wages 
cover  risk .  Fifty-one  per  cent  of  the  men  killed  were  married  with 
families  to  support;  an  additional  thirty  per  cent  were  single 
men,  partly  or  wholly  supporting  a  family.  It  was  shown 
that  the  greatest  losses  were  not  due  to  the  spectacular  accidents, 
but  to  everyday  causes.  In  the  steel  industry,  for  instance,  42 
deaths  were  due  to  the  operation  of  electric  cranes,  31  to  the 
operation  of  broad  and  narrow  gauge  railroads  in  the  mills  and 
yards,  and  24  to  falls  from  a  height  or  into  pits,  vats,  etc.  Pitts- 
burgh has  stamped  out  smallpox;  its  physicians  are  fighting 
tuberculosis;  the  mimicipahty  is  checking  typhoid.  Cannot 


4o8  CIVIC  RESPONSIBILITIES  OF  DEMOCRACY 


engineers,  foremen,  employers  and  workmen  come  together  in  a 
campaign  to  reduce  accidents?  Considerable  has  already  been 
done  in  this  direction  by  progressive  employers.  The  problem 
is  that  of  bringing  up  the  whole  district  to  progressive  standards. 

On  the  other  hand  we  have  put  these  industrial  accident  cases 
to  that  same  test  of  human  measurement  which  we  found  of  such 
significance  in  gauging  the  losses  due  to  typhoid  fever.  This 
steady  march  of  injury  and  death  means  an  enormous  economic 
loss.  Is  the  burden  of  this  loss  justly  distributed?  What  takes 
the  place  of  the  wages  of  these  bread-winners?  What  resources 
of  their  own  have  these  families  to  fall  back  on?  What  share 
of  the  loss  is  shouldered  by  the  employer?  What  share  falls  in 
the  long  run  upon  the  community  itself,  in  the  care  of  the  sick 
and  dependent?  Is  the  Pennsylvania  law  fair  that  exempts  the 
employer  from  paying  anything  to  the  family  of  a  killed  aUen 
if  that  family  hves  in  a  foreign  country?  Are  the  risks  which 
the  law  supposes  that  the  workman  assumes  when  he  hires 
out  for  wages,  fair  risks  under  modem  conditions  of  pro- 
duction? Is  it  in  the  long  run,  to  the  interest  of  the  employer 
to  leave  to  the  haphazard,  embittered  gamble  of  damage  stiits, 
this  question  of  meeting  in  a  fair  way  the  human  loss,  which  with 
even  the  best  processes  and  the  greatest  care,  is  involved  in  the 
production  of  utilities.  I  am  not  in  a  position  here  to  put  for- 
ward the  economic  facts  brought  out  by  our  inquiries ;  but  I  can 
say  that  on  every  hand,  among  employers  and  claim  agents  and 
workmen,  there  is  profound  dissatisfaction  and  an  increasing 
open-mindedness  toward  some  such  sane  and  equitable  system 
of  workingmen's  compensation  as  those  in  operation  in  Germany 
and  in  England. 

But  this  question  of  industrial  accidents  is  only  part  of  another 
and  larger  question  of  the  relation  of  industry  to  health.  The 
workers  of  Pittsburgh  are  dealing  not  with 
Industry  and  simple  ploughs  and  washtubs  and  anvils,  but 
Health  with  intricate  machines;  in  great  work  rooms 

where  hundreds  work  side  by  side;  dealing  with 
poisons,  with  voltage,  with  heat,  with  a  hundred  new  and  but 
half  mastered  agents  of  production.  Are  the  conditions  under 
which  some  of  this  work  is  carried  on  directly  inimical  to  health  ? 


PAUL  U.  KELLOGG 


Could  they  be  bettered  without  serious  loss  to  the  trades  and 
with  great  gain  to  the  workers?  Let  me  illustrate  from  the 
women-employing  trades.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  has  recently  upheld  the  Oregon  statute  prohibiting  the 
night  labor  of  women  in  certain  industries  on  the  ground  that 
such  work  is  a  danger  to  health.  From  mid-August  to  the  first 
of  December,  in  the  stogy  trade  of  Pittsburgh,  women  work 
from  two  to  three  evenings  a  week;  laundries  customarily  work 
Friday  nights  until  ten,  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  in  order  to 
return  goods  to  customers  Saturday,  and  overtime  in  all  depart- 
ments before  every  holiday.  We  have  cases  of  ironers  working 
until  1 :3o  and  3  a.m.  The  Christmas  trade  involves  night  work 
in  the  paper  box  factories  for  three  months;  and  in  the  confec- 
tionery trades  from  October  15  to  December  15 ;  and  the  women 
are  known  to  work  75  to  80  hours  a  week,  which  is  in  excess 
of  the  Pennsylvania  legal  limit. 

Again,  take  the  matter  of  insanitary  work  rooms.  In  the 
rapid  development  of  the  factory  trades  in  America,  we  have 
only  begun  to  devise  our  plants  with  reference  to  the  health  of 
the  worker  as  well  as  with  reference  to  output.  In  only  two  of 
the  28  commercial  laundries  in  Pittsburgh,  is  the  wash  room  on 
the  upper  floor.  In  26,  rising  steam  and  excessive  heat  not  only 
cause  discomfort  in  the  other  departments,  but  tend  to  induce 
diseases  of  the  respiratory  organs.  Tobacco  dried  in  racks  in 
many  of  the  stogy  sweatshops,  makes  the  air  heavy  with  nicotine, 
fills  the  room  with  fine  dust  and  increases  the  danger,  always 
present  in  tobacco  trades,  from  tuberculosis.  In  foundries  and 
machine  shops,  the  custom  of  placing  annealing  ovens  in  the  rooms 
where  the  cores  are  made,  causes  excessive  heat  in  the  work  room 
and  fills  the  air  with  black  dust.  We  have  the  statements  of  old 
employees  that  not  more  than  25  girls  of  the  300  in  the  coil  wind- 
ing room  in  one  of  the  Pittsburgh  electrical  industries  have  been 
in  the  plant  as  long  as  three  or  four  years.  The  speeding  up 
tends  to  make  the  girls  nervous,  weak  and  easily  overcome  by 
illness. 

Apart  from  the  dangers  of  accident,  of  speeding  and  injurious 
processes,  the  health  of  a  working  force  bears  a  direct  relation 
to  the  length  of  the  working  day.   The  tendency  with  respect 


4IO  CIVIC  RESPONSIBILITIES  OF  DEMOCRACY 


to  both  hovirs  and  Stmday  work  in  the  steel  industry  in  Pitts- 
burgh has  been,  for  fifteen  years,  towards  an  in- 
Democracy  crease,  and  there  is  no  indication  that  the  end 
and  Free  Time  has  yet  been  reached.  There  is  not  the  oppor- 
tunity here  to  analyze  the  time  schedvde  of  the 
varied  departments  of  the  steel  industry,  but  in  a  majority  of 
them  the  day  of  24  hours  is  spUt  between  two  shifts  of  workers ; 
and  the  men  work  not  six  days,  but  seven  a  week.  And  a  very 
considerable  share  of  them,  once  a  fortnight  in  changing  shifts, 
work  a  long  turn  of  24  hours. 

Employers  may  differ  as  to  whether  they  can  get  the  most 
work  and  the  most  effective  work  out  of  a  man  if  he  works  12 
hours  a  day,  or  10,  or  8.  But  I  hold  that  the  community  has 
something  at  stake  here.  How  much  citizenship  does  Pitts- 
burgh get  out  of  a  man  who  works  12  hovirs  a  day  seven  days 
a  week?  How  much  of  a  father  can  a  man  be  who  may  never 
see  his  babies  except  when  they  are  asleep ;  or  who  never  gets  a 
chance  to  go  off  into  the  cotmtry  for  a  roUick  with  his  boys? 
The  community  has  a  claim  on  the  vigor  and  intelUgence  of 
its  people,  on  their  activity  in  civic  affairs,  which  I  believe  it  is 
letting  go  by  default.  It  is  getting  only  the  tired-out  leavings 
of  some  of  its  best  men. 

My  argument,  then,  is  that  if  the  civic  responsibihties  of 
democracy  in  an  industrial  district  are  to  be  met,  the  community 
shoiild  do  what  a  first-rate  industrial  concern  would  do,  figure 
out  the  grovmd  it  can  cover  effectively  and  gear  its  social  ma- 
chinery so  to  cover  it.  By  social  machinery  I  mean  hospitals, 
schools,  courts  and  departments,  the  structure  of  the  city  and  all 
that  wide  range  of  activities  that  have  a  direct  bearing  on  the  liv- 
ing conditions  of  a  people.  Second,  hold  these  agencies  as  closely 
accoimtable  as  are  enterprises  in  the  business  world;  and  bring 
them  to  the  ultimate  touchstone  of  their  effect  on  the  wel- 
fare of  the  average  citizen.  Unless  a  wage  earning  popula- 
tion is  so  insured  against  disease,  its  vigor  and  effectiveness  so 
conserved,  the  community  is  not  meeting  its  responsibihties 
toward  the  industries  which  must  depend  upon  these  workers 
for  output  and  profit.  In  turn,  the  public  should  see  to  it  that 
the  industries  do  not  cripple  nor  exploit  the  working  force  which 


PAUL  U.  KELLOGG 


411 


constitutes  the  great  asset  of  the  community.  And  further,  if 
such  a  program  is  to  be  carried  out  in  an  American  and  demo- 
cratic way,  the  workers  themselves  must  have  greater  lee-way 
and  leisure  in  which  to  bear  their  share  of  the  burdens  and 
responsibilities  of  American  democracy. 

I  bear  a  message  tonight  to  Pittsburgh  from  John  Bums, 
president  of  the  Local  Government  Board  of  England,  one  of 

the  foremost  labor  leaders  of  Great  Britain, 
A  Message  who  has  been  hailed  this  fall  as  one  of  the  con- 
from  servative  forces  of  the  present  Liberal  Minis- 

John  Bums        try  in  dealing  with  the  important  economic 

problems  which  are  facing  the  British  Empire. 
He  has  visited  America  and  Pittsburgh  as  a  member  of  various 
commissions,  and  it  was  on  the  basis  of  his  knowledge  of  our 
situation  here  that  I  asked  him  for  suggestions  as  to  ways  of 
advance,  which  would  lead  to  the  improvement  of  civic  and 
labor  conditions  in  the  Pittsburgh  steel  district. 

"Six  days  work  a  week  instead  of  seven,"  he  said.  "  Three 
shifts  of  eight  hours  instead  of  two  shifts  of  twelve;  no  twenty- 
four  hour  shifts;  better  housing;  counter-attractions  to  the  saloon; 
more  parks — open  spaces;  the  improvement  of  the  liver  front — 
the  humanizing  of  labor  instead  of  the  brutalization  of  toil. 
There  you  are.     Those  are  Pittsburgh's  marching  orders." 

One  of  my  earliest  recollections  of  a  canvass  covered  geography 
was  the  prime  fact  which  is  Pittsbiirgh — ^that  here  the  Allegheny 

and  Monongahela  rivers  unite  to  form  the  Ohio. 
Pittsbxxrgh         Huge  economic  fotmdations  buttress  this  fact  (oil 

and  gas  and  clay  and  iron  and  coal) .  History  in 
the  making  has  rolled  it  into  new  shapes  and  a  changing  signifi- 
cance. The  junction  is  the  great  left  fist  of  the  Father  of  Waters. 
The  three  rivers  give  the  town  common  cause  and  intercourse 
with  the  Atlantic  coast  ranges  to  the  east,  and  the  mid-continen- 
tal bottom  lands,  north  and  south,  to  the  west.  Their  waters 
carry  the  ores  and  fill  the  boilers  and  douse  the  hissing  billets 
of  the  steel  makers.  They  are  not  easy  overlords,  this  trium- 
virate of  rivers.  They  carry  fever  which  scotches  one  town  and 
the  next.    They  rise  a  bit  too  far  and  the  fires  are  out,  the  streets 


412  CIVIC  RESPONSIBILITIES  OF  DEMOCRACY 

flooded.  But  grudgingly  and  inevitably,  they  are  yielding 
mastery.  They  have  been  dammed  and  sluiced  and  boiled  and 
filtered  to  suit  the  various  demands  of  navigation  and  power  and 
temperature  and  thirst. 

The  mastery  they  yield  is  to  another  current — the  eddying 
peoples  which  make  up  the  community  and  all  its  works — a 
current  more  powerful  and  mysterious  than  the  bulk  of  brown 
waters.  The  War  Department  engineers  can  tell  you  the  exact 
number  of  cubic  feet  which  slide  past  either  side  of  the  Point 
every  minute.  The  sanitarians  can  give  you  the  number  of 
bacteria,  friendly  or  plague-besetting,  which  infect  any  cubic 
centimeter.  The  weather  man  in  a  high  building  can  forecast 
the  exact  stage  which  the  water  will  register  hours  hence.  But 
what  of  the  people? — they  largely  take  themselves  for  granted. 
They  rarely  take  the  time  to  test  their  own  needs  or  to  con- 
sciously gauge  the  destination  of  the  currents  that  possess  them. 
They  are  here — the  strong,  the  weak,  the  cowed,  the  ambitious, 
the  well  equipped  and  the  pitiful;  they  jostle  and  work  and 
breed.  For  the  most  part  they  run  a  splendid  course,  but  they 
do  not  keep  tally,  and  ignorance,  as  ever,  has  meant  sorrow  and 
death  and  misunderstanding. 

The  three  rivers  and  the  resources  they  tap  brought  the  people 
here.  Environmennt  is  inevitable  as  a  selective  agency;  but 
the  people  once  here,  can  by  their  willing,  mold  and  perpetuate 
or  destroy  the  holding  power  of  the  district.  Other  cities  have 
large  admixtures  of  clerks  and  trading  classes.  I  doubt  if  there 
is  such  another  working  force  in  the  country  as  that  which  peoples 
these  valleys.  Therein  lies  a  municipal  resource  worth  conserv- 
ing to  the  utmost  of  its  potential  goods.  Will  Pittsburgh  as  a 
community,  as  a  democratic  community,  meet  that  responsibiUty  ? 

Will  the  industrial  communities  of  the  nation,  as  democratic 
communities,  meet  their  responsibility? 


The  Function  of  Business  Bodies  in  Improv- 
ing Civic  Conditions 

H.  D.  W.  ENGLISH,  Pittsburgh 
Formerly  President,  Pittsburgh  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  Chairman, 
Pittsburgh  Civic  Commission 

Increasing  numbers  of  people  in  America  are  coming  to  believe 
that  chambers  of  commerce  and  business  bodies  generally  have 
a  very  great  obligation  toward,  and  duty  in  connection  with, 
civic  problems. 

With  the  exception  of  three  or  four  in  this  country,  commer- 
cial organizations,  as  a  rule,  are  distinctly  given  over  to  what  is 
called  the  promotion  of  the  commercial  welfare  of  the  community 
in  which  they  exist.  They  naturally  turn  to  broadening  mar- 
kets; to  better  transportation  facilities;  currency  and  trade 
questions,  and  to  advertising  their  several  localities.  These  are 
regarded  as  the  fundamentals  of  commercial  prosperity.  The 
three  or  four  exceptions  which  have  taken  up  civic  work  are  in 
great  centers  and  civic  advancement  has  been  quite  pronounced 
already  as  a  result. 

Commercial  organizations,  however,  have  in  the  past  neglected 
a  large  field  which  virtually  effects  the  very  fundamentals  of  a 
commercial  supremacy,  i.e.,  that  a  city  to  be  great  commercially 
must  be  great  civicly.  How  can  any  set  of  business  men  go  out 
from  a  community  and  ask  for  business  confidence ;  for  contracts 
involving  immense  sums  of  money  when  that  city's  public  busi- 
ness and  civic  tone  is  so  low  as  to  cause  suspicion  to  fall  on  these 
same  business  men,  who,  through  neglect  of  their  civic  duties, 
have  given  a  just  cause  for  suspicion  of  civic  incompetency 
It  doesn't  matter  how  unjust  it  may  be  to  the  individual.  Allow 
the  city  to  drift  civicly  upon  the  rocks  and  the  commercial  pros- 
perity will  soon  follow. 

(413) 


414    BUSINESS  BODIES  IMPROVING  CIVIC  CONDITIONS 


On  the  other  hand,  organization  of  effort  as  expressed  in  such 
associations  as  we  are  speaking  of  present  the  most  effective  way 
of  obtaining  knowledge  and  suggesting  remedies  in  civic  matters 
which  may  effect  commercial  advance  in  a  conservative,  dis- 
passionate way  without  fear  of  the  criticism  of  doing  so  for 
partisanship  advantage.  Indeed  there  should  be  no  thought  of 
partisanship. 

Organizations  of  this  kind  will  make  themselves  felt  for  civic 
good  when  it  is  found  out  that  they  are  actuated  by  broad 

principles  of  pubUc  policy  for  the  whole  good  of 
The  Influence  the  city.  The  fact  that  influential,  thoughtful 
of  Business  and  active  business  men  have  agreed  upon  a 
Men  certain  poHcy  will  carry  weight  in  a  community 

of  thinking  people,  and  with  any  thoughtful 
legislative  body.  There  should  be  no  conflict  between  such 
organizations  and  municipal  legislatures  where  both  are  seeking 
to  solve  questions  for  the  highest  good.  They  both  should 
approach  all  municipal  questions  with  the  one  desire  of  solving 
them  properly  and  with  mutual  respect  for  the  judgment  of  both. 
The  most  effective  way,  however,  is  through  the  appointment 
of  a  committee  from  the  legislative  body  to  hear  a  committee 
from  business  organizations  and  together  thresh  out  the  chaff 
and  get  the  wheat.  Each  should  recognize  the  need  of  the  point 
of  view  of  the  other.  The  consideration  of  municipal  problems 
by  boards  of  business  and  technical  men,  apart  from  the  muni- 
cipal government  and  administration,  is  a  good  one,  in  that  it 
causes  our  busy  American  people  to  think  more  of  the  govern- 
ment, of  which  we  are  a  part,  and  more  of  their  duties  and  not 
leave  everything  to  those  to  whom  we  elect  to  office.  The  very 
fact  that  interest  is  aroused  will  cause  those  same  people  whom 
we  have  elected  to  be  more  thoughtfiil  in  their  actions. 

In  Greater  Pittsburgh  we  have  fourteen  commercial  and  civic 
bodies  organized  for  the  purpose  of  fostering  trade  and  for  civic 
betterment,  composed  of  3500  leading  business  men  and  women, 
all  citizens.  The  great  civic  questions  are  taken  up  by  some  one 
of  these  organizations  and  by  them  discussed  and  the  consensus 
of  opinion  arrived  at  and  passed  on  to  the  others  and  by  them 
in  turn  discussed  and  opinion  arrived  at.    The  final  judgment 


H.  D.  W.  ENGLISH 


415 


should  be  of  inestimable  value  to  any  legislative  body,  and  is  a 
real  contribution  to  the  subject  in  hand  and  should  have  its 
weight  in  the  final  determination  of  any  question  by  a  municipal 
legislature  seeking  the  highest  good. 

There  is  another  feature  which  is  not  so  apparent  to  all,  namely, 
that  municipal  government  generally  plans  for  those  municipal 
activities  which  either  through  custom  or  time 
Shortsight-        have  been  found  necessary,  or  the  doing  of 
edness  which  can  actually  be  seen  to  pay  in  some  im- 

mediate results;  sometimes,  alas,  pay  in  a 
political  way  and  sometimes  pay  in  a  broad  public  way,  but  at 
any  rate,  not  looking  a  long  time  into  the  future.  It  is  prover- 
bially the  remark  that  municipalities,  while  they  always  wish  to 
see  returns  for  money  expended,  are  not  capable  of  looking  very 
far  into  the  future  and  seeing  benefits  from  money  expended 
today  which  will  come  back,  perhaps,  to  our  children.  Such 
things  as  better  housing  conditions,  better  transportation  facili- 
ties, better  care  of  the  children  of  the  streets  and  better  sanitary 
conditions,  the  granting  of  franchises  viewed  in  a  broad  way, 
sometimes  look  too  advanced  to  the  ordinary  legislator,  but  it 
is  not  difficult  to  show  to  the  thoughtful  business  man  that  all 
this  counts,  even  counts  from  the  dollars-and-cents  point  of 
view,  let  alone  the  matter  of  civic  pride.  So  it  is  by  the  arous- 
ing of  interest  in  such  bodies  of  business  men  that  we  have  a 
healthy  tone  in  a  community  which  operates  for  the  public 
good. 

The  consideration  of  great  numbers  of  civic  questions  neces- 
sary to  the  economy  of  operation,  reduction  of  water  waste, 
etc.,  can  be  solved  much  more  readily,  much  more  intelligently, 
by  a  body  of  business  men,  and  civic  advancement  and  remedial 
measures  will  only  be  furthered  by  such  bodies  which  in  the 
very  nature  of  their  individual  business  take  into  consideration 
far-reaching  effects  and  future  needs,  all  of  which  business  men 
are  accustomed  to  review  before  taking  action.  Perhaps  no 
body  of  men  engaged  in  voluntary  work  can  bring  to  bear  in 
the  solving  of  civic  problems  so  much  expert  knowledge  or  engi- 
neering skill  on  subjects  such  as  engineering,  filtration,  flood 
protection,  sewage  disposal,  smoke  abatement,  civic  and  archi- 


4i6    BUSINESS  BODIES  IMPROVING  CIVIC  CONDITIONS 

tectural  beautification,  housing  conditions  and  the  drafting  of 
proper  legislation  relative  thereto,  or  the  same  all-round  touch 
necessary  to  a  wise  decision  on  these  great  questions  which  so 
vitally  effect  the  welfare  of  a  city,  as  the  men  who  make  up  the 
membership  in  a  commercial  organization. 

The  membership  of  commercial  bodies  can  be  asstmied  to 
represent  the  most  progressive  and  broadest  men  of  the  city,  yet 
men  of  this  kind  in  the  rush  and  exactions  of  their  business  are 
too  apt  to  forget  the,  to  them,  minor  things  which  make  for 
better  municipal  living.  There  is  a  tendency  also  to  look  upon 
new  movements  as  being  largely  theoretical  rather  than  practi- 
cal. By  committee  work,  such  as  is  done  in  chambers  of  com- 
merce who  do  civic  work,  the  men  get  closer  together  and  by 
conferences  and  talks  with  those  who  are  in  closer  touch  with 
the  civic  needs,  such  as  the  heads  of  the  departments  of  a  great 
city,  are  first  brought  to  take  an  interest  and  finally  to  lend 
their  active  assistance,  and  the  very  fact  that  after  due  con- 
sideration such  assistance  is  given  to  these  civic  subjects  gives 
such  subjects  a  better  standing  before  the  community.  No 
administrative  branch  of  the  city  government  can  accomplish 
much  unless  it  has  the  cooperation  and  confidence  of  the  business 

men  of  the  city,  men  who  are  responsible  for 
Cooperation  by  the  substantial  gro'^'th  and  progress  of  the  city. 
Doing  Things     In  no  way  can  we  get  a  better  cooperation  than 

by  giving  these  men  a  chance  to  do  something 
tangible  themselves  than  by  the  creation  of  special  committees 
to  carry  on  special  civic  work. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  in  this  enlightened  period  to  say,  as 
has  been  said,  that  bad  water,  bad  sewage,  bad  housing  and  bad 
air  are  a  species  of  indirect  taxation  upon  the  business  interests, 
not  only  as  taxpayers,  but  in  their  effect  upon  the  output.  Let 
us  be  more  explicit  and  make  an  illustration  from  our  own 
experience  in  this  city  with  typhoid  fever  in  1906-1907,  caused 
by  lack  of  pure  water,  and  again  caused  by  lack  of  attention  on 
the  part  of  our  city  authorities,  until  commercial  and  civic 
organizations,  recognizing  the  frightful  economic  loss  and  loss 
of  prestige  to  our  city,  forced  attention  to  this  matter.  Let  us 
put  it  all  on  the  low  groimd  of  values  lost  in  money  and  to  com- 


H.  D.  W.  ENGLISH 


417 


merce.  In  1906  we  had  5729  cases  of  typhoid  fever.  Of 
that  number  508  died.  It  has  been  estimated  that  the  average 
income  of  each  of  the  508  people  was  $300.00  annually.  That 
annual  earning  capacity  represents  a  capitalization  of  $5000  at 
6  per  cent.  If  we  multiply  that  capitalization  by  508  then  this 
city  lost  in  income  $152,400  annually,  or  what  could  correspond 
to  an  earning  capacity  on  $2,540,000  in  capitalization  in  a 
single  year.  This  loss  is  simply  for  one  year.  If  the  average 
age  of  the  508  was  arrived  at  and  the  expectation  of  these  lives 
which  were  sacrificed  in  a  great  measure  because  of  lack  of  civic 
duty,  were  gone  into,  the  economic  loss  to  this  city  in  a  number 
of  years  as  a  result  of  civic  neglect  would  be  appalling.  Then 
again  we  add  to  this  the  frightful  loss  from  the  "White  Plague, " 
(estimated  recently  by  one  of  our  leading  specialists  at  $4,000,000 
annually  in  this  city)  and  we  can  easily  be  said  to  have  been  losing 

an  earning  capacity  from  preventable  deaths 
Pittsburgh's  alone,  of  over  $300,000  annually.  That  repre- 
Typhoid  Fever  sents  a  steel  works  capitalized  at  $3,000,000 
Campaign  earning  10  per  cent  on  its  capitalization.  Were 

the  citizens  of  this  great  city  to  wake  up  to  the 
fact  that  we  are  actually  losing  annually  a  tangible  steel  mill 
costing  $3,000,000,  paying  $300,000,  how  long  would  our  com- 
mercial organizations  question  the  advisability  of  entering 
heartily  into  civic  questions  which  involve  such  vast  sums  of 
money?  In  making  this  illustration  from  our  own  city  let  us 
call  the  attention  of  almost  every  American  city  to  like  condi- 
tions. It  is  not  to  point  the  finger  of  scorn  at  any  city  that  these 
figures  are  given,  but  to  call  the  attention  of  all  to  this  frightful 
economic  loss  that  can  be  stayed  by  intelligent  work.  One 
feels  like  apologizing  for  placing  human  life  on  so  low  a  plane 
as  to  show  its  commercial  value  to  a  city,  but  if  it  illumines  the 
minds  of  the  members  of  our  great  American  commercial  organi- 
zations to  the  absolute  need  of  a  keener  sense  of  a  civic  responsi- 
bility on  their  part  today,  then  the  use  of  the  illustration  may 
be  forgiven.  Nor  is  that  all.  In  a  great  many  American  cities 
illustrated  lectures  on  the  question  of  pure  water  are  being 
given.  Wandering  into  one  of  these  lectures  several  years  ago, 
imagine  my  chagrin  at  finding  my  own  city  placed  as  one  of  the 


4i8    BUSINESS  BODIES  IMPROVING  CIVIC  CONDITIONS 


plague  spots,  and  being  unable  to  defend  it.  Do  you  suppose 
all  these  facts  were  not  inimical  to  the  business  interests  of  the 
merchants  of  my  city? 

Is  it  not  a  relief  then  to  look  at  the  figtu-es  for  Pittsburgh  since 
the  filtration  plant  has  been  in  operation  and  find  the  following : 

Number  of  Typhoid  Fever  Cases  in  October,  1907  .  .  .58 
Number  of  Typhoid  Fever  Cases  in  October,  1908. . .  8 

Decrease  in  a  Single  Month  of  50 

Is  there  any  need  to  ask  what  are  the  functions  of  a  commercial 
organization  in  civic  matters  on  a  question  so  vital  to  a  city's 
commercial  welfare,  with  such  recent  history  back  of  one  Amer- 
ican city,  which  through  its  commercial  organizations,  is  deter- 
mined to  settle  these  questions  for  the  future  of  a  great  city. 

We  have  not  the  time,  nor  is  the  data  at  hand,  to  inform  you 
as  to  the  actual  loss  commercially  to  this  city,  and  to  all  Amer- 
ican cities  from  the  lack  of  proper  combustion  of  fuel.  The  lead- 
ing commercial  organizations  of  this  city  have  taken  this  ques- 
tion up  seriously  and  we  believe  in  five  years  will  settle  it  definitely 
for  every  American  city,  for  when  Pittsburgh  settles  it,  the  ques- 
tion of  the  possibility  of  settlement  is  closed.  Laying  aside  the 
question  of  health  involved,  which  is  a  great  one,  the  loss  to  our 
cities  commercially  in  the  depreciation  of  stocks  from  damage 
by  smoke  is  almost  incalculable.  We  have  already  discovered 
that  steam  efficiency  is  much  increased  and  fuel  cost  greatly  re- 
duced. Then  why  should  a  commercial  organization  not  take  up 
such  a  great  civic  question  as  this  for  purely  commercial  reasons? 

Then  comes  the  great  housing  question.  It  is  an  absolute 
fact  and  is  subject  for  proof  that  clean,  healthful  home  condi- 
tions reach  in  a  commercial  way  inside  the 
The  Housing  factory  gates.  There  comes  a  time  in  the  life  of 
Problem  every  great  and  growing  city  when  the  speculative 

builder  cannot  keep  pace  with  the  growth,  and 
the  kind  of  houses  this  same  speculative  builder  erects  for  work- 
ingraen  has  a  direct  interest  not  only  to  the  city,  but  for  the 
employer,  as  well.  When  that  time  arrives  then  you  will  find 
a  condition  where  from  five  to  twelve  men  sleep  in  a  room  and 


H.  D.  W.  ENGLISH 


419 


the  workingman  is  not  at  his  best  and  his  work  is  faulty.  Then 
also  comes  the  time  when  it  becomes  a  great  commercial  propo- 
sition and  the  manufacturer  must  take  an  interest  in  a  question 
so  vital  to  his  business. 

It  would  seem  that  the  question  of  recreative  parks,  bath 
houses  and  proper  facilities  for  working  people  to  seek  recreation 
is  one  properly  belonging  to  a  commercial  organization  when 
the  recent  experience  of  one  American  city  is  cited.  Two  com- 
mittees of  skilled  workmen  sent  by  their  employers  to  this 
American  city  refused,  after  investigation,  to  accompany  their 
employers,  who  desired  to  remove  to  that  city,  because  of  a  lack 
of  these  things  which  they,  in  a  more  rural  environment,  had 
found  necessary  to  the  health  and  enjoyment  of  their  families 
and  themselves.  These  two  manufactories  paid  out  about 
$10,000  in  wages  per  month,  a  total  annual  wage  of  $120,000 
being  lost  to  that  city.  Is  it  a  function  of  the  commercial  organi- 
zation to  take  up  civic  matters  with  such  an  experience? 

The  best  work  an  individual  citizen  does  is  that  for  which  he 
receives  no  pay.  When  we  honor  the  business  man  more  who 
through  a  high  civic  sense  of  duty  makes  his  contribution  to  the 
public  good,  we  will  be  on  the  way  to  a  greater  degree  of  effective 
service  than  we  have  ever  dreamed  of,  and  the  best  work  any 
commercial  organization  is  doing  in  taking  up  great  questions 

such  as  have  been  outlined,  and  many  more 
The  Retro-  which  might  be  given,  is  that  silent  retroactive 
Active  Influ-  influence  upon  the  membership  itself — the  edu- 
ence  of  Civic  cation  of  the  individual  business  man  to  the 
Work  supreme  importance  of  a  thorough  knowledge 

on  all  civic  questions  which  have  in  the  very 
recent  past  been  decided  for  him  while  he  was  so  busy  at  his  daily 
grind.  These  questions  were  not  being  solved  in  a  way  which 
finally  would  inure  to  his  own  personal  interests  as  a  citizen  of  a 
city  in  which  he  lived  and  must  rear  his  family,  and  as  a  business 
man  who  must  ever  be  alert  for  trade.  This  unconscious  edu- 
cation of  the  business  man  that  is  silently  going  on  in  a  com- 
mercial organization  as  the  individual  member  lends  himself 
to  civic  and  social  questions  lead  him  finally  to  see  that  the  thing 
needed  is  less  philanthropy  and  more  of  himself,  with  his  keen 
insight  and  a  determination  to  settle  these  questions  honorably. 


420    BUSINESS  BODIES  IMPROVING  CIVIC  CONDITIONS 


That  is,  giving  more  of  himself,  the  need  of  his  check  will  soon 
disappear.  He  soon  finds  that  it  is  idle  and  deceiving  for  men  or 
women  to  build  summer  homes,  hospitals,  wage  war  on  tubercu- 
losis, when  commercial  methods  of  the  present  day  are  increas- 
ing the  need  for  such  places  and  such  work.  That  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  dollars  to  equip  modern  mills  must,  to  be  a  future 
commercial  success,  carry  with  it  other  thousands  of  dollars  for 
decent  homes  for  workingmen  to  live  in  who  can  in  turn  give 
the  full  equivalent  in  healthy  and  effective  service  in  these 
mills;  that  the  machinery  that  maims  men  and  causes  loss  of 
time  and  extra  expense  must  be  supplanted  by  protective  ma- 
chinery or  it  will  prove  a  losing  proposition  commercially.  He 
will  find  that  the  social  welfare  of  his  men  is  absolutely  a  part 
of  the  welfare  of  his  business  and  brings  him  back  to  that  old 
axiom  that  an  "ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  a  pound  of  cure." 
Thus  we  will  in  time  establish  a  new  standard  of  service. 

Governor  Hughes  has  said,  "the  essentials  of  civic  govern- 
ment are  three — leadership,  intelligent  public  opinion  and 
expert  service. "  Here  and  there  we  find  citizens  who  may  have 
good  ideas  concerning  improvement  of  civic  conditions,  but 
unless  they  are  able  to  make  a  constructive  suggestion,  which 
can  be  taken  up  and  after  intelligent  investigation  given  expres- 
tion  in  the  united  and  forceful  action  of  a  large  body  of  conserva- 
tive business  men,  such  as  represented  in  our  great  commercial 
organizations,  the  ideas  will  not  likely  result  in  effecting  the 
reforms  desired.  So  the  business  man  who  connects  himself 
with  a  commercial  organization,  broad  enough  to  see  that  his 
city  cannot  be  great  commercially  and  at  the  same  time  unbusi- 
nesslike and  inhuman  civicly,  and  lends  his  best  energies  to  that 
organization  in  the  solving  of  civic  questions  as  earnestly  as  he 
does  to  questions  of  trade  and  commerce,  has  a  real  and  practical 
vision  of  the  broad  minded  and  humane  business  man  of  the 
twentieth  century,  who  is  to  be  a  real  force  in  the  civic  life  of 
his  community,  and  thus  contribute  to  the  commercial  greatness 
of  the  city  to  which  he  owes  his  allegiance,  and  in  whose  behalf 
it  will  be  at  all  times  his  pleasure  to  serve.  Remembering 
always  that  every  man  inherits  as  he  lives  much  from  his  city, 
and  should  bequeath  something  of  his  time,  his  talents,  for  the 
higher  good  of  that  city  before  he  dies. 


The  Liquor  Traffic  and  City  Government 


PROF.  AUGUSTUS  RAYMOND  HATTON,  Cleveland 
Professor  of  Political  Science,  Western  Reserve  University 

It  is  doubtful  if  the  history  of  government  reveals  a  more 
persistent,  pervasive  or  intricate  problem  than  that  arising  from 
the  use  of  intoxicating  drink.  Apparently  as  old  as  organized 
society  there  is  no  government  in  the  civilized  world  today  which 
does  not  feel  called  upon  to  give  it  earnest  consideration.  Its 
persistence  alone  is  strong  proof  of  its  difficulty.  If  further 
evidence  is  required  even  a  superficial  examination  is  sufficient 
to  show  that  it  involves  such  a  multiplicity  of  elements,  econo- 
mic, social,  political  and  moral,  that  it  is  easy  to  cast  at  least  some 
doubt  upon  any  solution  which  may  be  offered.  And  yet  it  is 
a  question  which,  from  its  very  nature,  cannot  be  permitted  to 
rest  until  some  solution  has  been  found  measurably  satisfactory 
to  a  majority  of  the  people  of  each  nation  concerned. 

At  the  very  outset  one  is  impressed  with  the  fact  that  an 
impartial  consideration  of  the  liquor  question  is  beset  with 

special  difficulties.  The  positive  conviction  with 
DiflSculties  of  which  the  champions  of  the  two  extremes  advo- 
Impartial  cate  their  theories  leaves  little  room  for  the 

Consideration     findings  of  the  scientific  investigator.    If  his 

conclusions  lean  toward  suppression  of  the 
traffic  he  is  a  puritan  and  hostile  to  individual  liberty;  should 
he  incline  toward  a  less  rigorous  policy  he  is  a  creature  of  the 
rum  power  and  an  enemy  of  mankind ;  if  he  finds  himself  obliged 
to  take  some  middle  ground  he  receives  aspersions  impartially 
from  both  sides.  The  investigation  of  the  liquor  traffic  shares 
this  difficulty  in  common  with  all  other  questions  into  which 
the  so-called  moral  considerations  enter.  The  very  intensity 
of  feeling  which  keeps  the  question  alive  becomes  one  of  the 
chief  obstacles  to  a  wise  solution. 

(421) 


42  2     THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC  AND  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


While  it  would  not  be  safe  to  say  that  the  comparative  rareness 
of  impartial  scientific  investigations  of  the  liquor  traffic  is  due 
to  the  condition  just  described  it  does  happen  that,  considering 
the  importance  of  the  question,  the  amount  of  literature  of  solid 
value  concerning  it  is  exceedingly  small.  It  is  also  true  that 
those  investigations  which  rest  upon  the  soundest  bases  are 
apparently  the  least  quoted  in  the  battle  of  argument  which  is 
constantly  raging. 

Another  difficulty  in  the  path  of  any  comprehensive  investi- 
gation of  the  liquor  traffic  is  found  in  the  wide  scope  which  the 
inquiry  must  take.  The  subjects  range  from  individual  liberty 
to  the  conditions  of  labor,  from  taxation  to  the  causes  of  insanity, 
from  local  autonomy  to  social  psychology.  A  multitude  of 
factors  demand  consideration  and  no  view  is  complete  without 
taking  them  all  into  account.  Even  when  that  is  done  con- 
clusions may  differ  in  proportion  as  superior  weight  is  given  to 
this,  that  or  the  other  element. 

One  final  difficulty  remains  to  be  noticed.  The  problem  of  the 
liquor  traffic  involves,  as  has  just  been  indicated,  a  wide  range 
of  social  phenomena.  It  need  not  be  said  that  social  facts  are 
always  hard  to  weigh,  analyze  and  classify  even  when  the 
most  perfect  system  of  observation  and  tabulation  has  been 
worked  out.  Even  with  a  comprehensive  plan  it  is  never  abso- 
lutely certain  that  the  same  standard  of  judgment  is  employed 
by  all  those  who  contribute  to  the  work.  For  this  reason 
social  statistics  have  always  a  considerable  element  of  uncer- 
tainty. Moreover  students  of  social  questions  in  the  United 
States  have  not  even  the  advantage  of  a  compilation  of  facts 
worked  out  according  to  a  comprehensive  plan.  Within  the 
boundaries  of  the  individual  state  a  uniform  system  of  collect- 
ing data  may  be  employed.  However  these  systems  are  only 
too  often  carelessly  or  inadequately  carried  out  and  the  range  of 
facts  covered  is  usually  entirely  too  limited.  The  tables  of  the 
Federal  Government  are  in  most  cases  based  upon  the  reports 
of  state  officials.  Hence  comparative  studies  of  various  states 
are  likely  to  be  untrustworthy  and  the  figures  so  glibly  quoted 
by  opposing  sides  in  the  liquor  controversy  are  often  unreUable 
or  at  least  open  to  serious  question. 


AUGUSTUS  RAYMOND  HATTON 


423 


In  the  face  of  these  difficulties,  and  partly  because  of  them, 
the  problem  of  the  liquor  traffic  stands  more  in  need  of  an  im- 
partial and  comprehensive  investigation  today 
Imperative  than  ever  before.  The  very  progress  of  the  anti- 
Need  of  Inves-  liquor  movement  through  the  media  of  state 
tigation  prohibition  and  local  option  has  increased  rather 

than  lessened  the  need  for  more  light.  A  solid 
basis  of  fact  upon  which  to  rest  further  procedure  should 
be  welcomed  by  every  person  who  desires  to  settle  this  great 
problem  in  a  manner  most  conducive  to  the  public  good.  And 
yet  since  the  work  of  the  Committee  of  Fifty,  ten  years  ago,  no 
general  study  of  the  question  has  been  attempted  in  America. 
There  has  been  published  since  that  time,  one  valuable  mono- 
graph upon  the  central  administration  of  liquor  laws  and  from 
time  to  time  numerous  magazine  articles  have  appeared.  But, 
in  the  main,  the  facts  and  figures  currently  quoted  have 
emanated  either  from  those  interested  in  the  liquor  trade  or 
from  the  party  committed  irrevocably  to  complete  and  imme- 
diate suppression.  Aside  from  these  convinced  advocates  of 
conflicting  solutions  there  is  not,  so  far  as  the  writer  knows, 
a  single  American  investigator  who  is  contributing  steadily  to 
our  knowledge  of  this  most  difficult  and  intricate  problem. 
Indeed  the  largest  mass  of  accurate  information  regarding  Amer- 
ican conditions  which  has  appeared  since  the  reports  of  the 
Committee  of  Fifty  is  to  be  found  in  the  joint  work  of  two  English 
authorities.^  If  the  outcome  of  this  present  discussion  should 
be  a  systematic  and  exhaustive  investigation  of  the  liquor 
traffic  as  it  affects  the  government  of  cities  in  the  United  States 
the  National  Municipal  League  would  have  made  a  contribution 
of  inestimable  value  toward  the  solution  of  a  great  problem. 

After  all  the  liquor  question  is  largely  a  problem  in  city 
j^.  government.    In  the  country  districts  it  presents 

_      ..  no  special  difficulties.    Outside  the  large  centers 

Question  j-         ,  ,        ,    ,  ^ 

p       .  01  population  several  methods  of  treatment 

a  City  One         have  been  found  to  work  fairly  well.    No  plan 

has  given  uniform  satisfaction  when  applied 

under  urban  conditions.    The  most  obvious  reason  for  this 

'  Rowntree  and  Sherwell:  The  Temperance  Problem  and  Social  Reform, 
9th  ed.,  1901;  Taxation  of  the  Liquor  trade,  vol.  i,  1906. 


424      THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC  AND  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


diflference  is  that  intoxicating  drink  is  chiefly  sold  in  cities. 
This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  trade  follows  the  same  course 
economically  as  any  other  business  and  locates  itself  at  the 
point  where  the  profit  is  greatest.  In  fact  it  is  even  more  irre- 
sistibly drawn  to  the  urban  centers  than  trade  of  other  descrip- 
tions, for  not  being  a  necessity  of  life,  it  would  lose  the  greater 
part  of  its  custom  unless  situated  where  men  habitually  come 
together  for  other  purposes. 

Furthermore  the  very  nature  of  city  life  creates  a  disposition 
more  favorable  to  the  saloon  than  is  to  be  found  in  the  country 
districts.  The  close  contact,  highly  diversified  interests  and 
greater  excitement  incident  to  a  massed  population  are  produc- 
tive of  liberality  of  view  not  to  say  of  a  free  and  easy  attitude 
toward  life.  This  manifests  itself  in  a  more  tolerant  spirit  and  in 
a  disposition  to  give  the  other  man  his  way  in  matters  personal. 
The  causes  lying  back  of  this  tendency  in  urban  populations 
is  beyond  the  province  of  this  paper  to  discuss.  The  purpose 
here  is  to  point  out  that  it  is  responsible  for  granting  the  saloon 
a  right  to  be  so  long  as  there  is  any  considerable  demand  for  it 
and  for  a  certain  amount  of  blindness  to  its  undesirable  features. 
The  presence  in  many  of  our  American  cities  of  large  numbers 
of  persons  of  foreign  birth  who  have  always  been  accustomed 
to  the  use  of  intoxicants  only  serves  still  further  to  accentuate 
this  universal  tendency  of  urban  life. 

There  is  another  aspect  of  city  life  not  so  often  considered 
in  this  connection  which  renders  the  question  of  intoxicating 
drink  peculiarly  one  of  municipal  government.  The  strain  and 
stress  of  the  present  industrial  organization  falls  largely  upon 
those  in  the  cities.    They  are  the  ones  most  directly  affected 

by  our  machine-made  age.  The  so-called  indus- 
Industrial  trial  classes  are  largely  city  dwellers.  From 

Classes  and  one  extreme  of  life  to  the  other  the  principle 
Liquor  of  division  of  labor  has  deprived  the  urban 

inhabitant  of  the  recreation  which  comes  from 
variety  in  work.  Especially  among  the  shop  and  factory  workers 
has  the  division  of  labor  been  carried  to  its  utmost  limit.  When 
there  is  added  to  the  dulling  monotony  of  performing  a  single 
small  part  of  an  industrial  process,  the  tension  under  which  labor 


AUGUSTUS  RAYMOND  HATTON 


425 


is  performed,  the  din  and  jar  of  machinery,  and,  only  too  often, 
the  smoke  and  grime  of  unattractive  and  unsanitary  surround- 
ings, it  is  not  strange  that  men  released  from  labor  under  such 
conditions  should  seek  relief  in  some  manner  from  the  strain  of 
their  daily  toil.  The  search  for  something  with  an  inhibitory 
effect,  to  employ  the  term  used  recently  by  Professor  Munster- 
berg,  leads  directly  to  the  use  of  alcoholic  stimulants.  The 
evil  results  of  alcohol  appear  most  frequently  among  this  class 
of  our  population.  Our  industrial  organization  demands  the 
highest  degree  of  self-control  from  the  very  persons  whom  it 
deprives  of  that  virtue.  The  free  life  of  the  country  with  its 
good  air,  its  quiet  and  its  variety  of  labor,  if  not  proof  against 
the  ravages  of  alcoholism,  at  least  does  not  produce  an  abnormal 
condition  which  tends  to  seek  relief  in  artificial  stimulants. 

The  ease  with  which  laws  regulating  the  liquor  traffic  may  be 
evaded  in  cities  adds  another  purely  municipal  attribute  to  the 
problem.  The  strain  of  enforcing  such  provisions,  especially 
if  opposed  by  public  sentiment,  is  more  than  even  a  conscien- 
tious city  administration  can  stand.  The  exclusion  of  the  traffic 
from  neighboring  small  towns  and  from  the  country  round  about 
often  renders  the  position  of  a  city  more  difficult.  In  such  cases 
the  city  government  has  to  bear  the  burden  of  enforcement 
against  the  efforts  of  its  own  people  reinforced  by  the  drinking 
portion  of  the  tributary  country  districts. 

Thus  briefly  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  show  to  what  an 
extent  the  problem  of  the  liquor  traffic  is  predominately  a  ques- 
tion of  city  government.  The  purpose  has  not  been  to  minimize 
the  seriousness  of  the  situation  but  to  make  it  clear  that  any 
solution  which  is  offered  must  be  based  largely  on  urban  con- 
ditions. 

What  then  are  the  fundamental  facts  regarding  the  relations 
of  the  liquor  traffic  to  city  government?  The  trade  is  charged 
with  being  in  politics  and  the  charge  is  unquestionably  true. 
Wherever  the  traffic  exists  it  is  a  force  politically,  varying  in 
degree  from  a  moderate  influence  to  tremendous  power.  But 
why  is  the  liquor  traffic  in  politics?  An  answer  to  the  latter 
question  is  necessary  in  order  to  get  the  situation  clearly  in  mind 
as  well  as  a  preliminary  to  the  suggestion  of  remedies. 


426      THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC  AND  CITY  GO\'ER.\ME\T 


The  two  causes  of  the  poHtical  influence  and  activity  of  the 
liquor  trade  are  (i)  Regulation  and  (2)  the  nature  of  the 

retail  business.  There  is  a  unanimous  opinion 
Political  among  all  parties  to  the  liquor  controversy  that 

Influence  and  the  traffic  cannot  be  left  entirely  free.  Even 
Activity  those  engaged  in  the  trade  do  not  lay  claim 

to  the  same  degree  of  freedom  enjoyed  by  other 
lines  of  business.  But  regulation  is  followed  inevitably  by 
pohtical  activity.  In  this  connection  it  shovild  not  be  forgotten 
that,  from  an  economic  standpoint,  the  Uquor  trade,  like  any 
other  business,  is  primarily  concerned  with  profits.  The  object 
is  to  manufacture  and  sell  a  commodity  for  profit  and  the  moment 
regiilation  ctirtails  freedom  of  trade  the  profit  of  the  business  is 
affected  and  it  goes  into  poHtics  either  to  secure  the  enactment 
of  less  hampering  restrictions  or  to  fight  the  enforcement  of  those 
already  enacted.  In  this  respect  the  Uquor  trade  acts  very 
much  as  would  any  other  business  under  similar  circumstances. 
The  steel  trust  is  in  politics  to  prevent  tmfavorable  changes  in 
the  tariff,  and  the  railroads  to  prevent  additional  rate  legislation 
just  as  the  hquor  trade  is  in  poHtics  to  prevent  the  passage  of 
prohibition  and  local  option  laws  and  restrictive  city  ordinances. 

The  economic  weight  of  the  Uquor  traflSc  when  drawn  into  the 
poUtical  arena  is  not  to  be  scorned.  In  1900  the  capital  invested 
in  manufacture  alone  amotmted  to  $457,674,087.  There  were, 
at  the  same  time,  52,575  persons  drawing  their  Uvings  from  that 
part  of  the  business  either  as  laborers  or  salaried  employees, 
while  the  total  value  of  the  manufactured  product  was  $340,615,- 
466.  This  poUtical  strength  derived  from  the  economic  weight 
of  the  trade  belongs  largely  to  the  brewing  industry.  Of  the 
total  capital  of  $457,764,087  in  1900,  $415,284,468  was  devoted 
to  the  production  of  malt  Uquors.  The  number  of  salaried 
officers  and  laborers  in  that  branch  of  the  business  was  46,655 
as  against  a  total  of  52,575  for  the  whole  trade,  while  the  brewers' 
share  in  the  value  of  the  total  output  was  $237,264,713  out  of  a 
total  of  $340,264,713.  From  this  it  is  easy  to  understand  why 
it  is  that  in  the  Uquor  conflict  the  brewers  appear  to  be  the  only 
branch  of  the  traffic  on  the  manufacttiring  side  definitely  inter- 
ested in  the  outcome. 


AUGUSTUS  RAYMOND  HATTON 


427 


But  aside  from  the  greater  economic  importance  of  the  brew- 
ing industry  there  is  another  reason  which  accounts  for  its 
superior  pohtical  power  as  compared  with  that 
Economic  of  distillers  and  producers  of  vinous  liquors. 

Importance  of  Owing  to  the  greater  cost  of  distributing  the 
Brewing  finished  product,  as  against  the  cost  of  trans- 

porting the  raw  material  used  in  manufacture, 
the  tendency  is  to  locate  breweries  with  a  view  to  ease  in 
the  distribution  of  the  product  rather  than  with  regard  to  con- 
venient supplies  of  raw  material.  In  the  case  of  the  distill- 
ing industry  the  opposite  condition  prevails.  The  cost  of  dis- 
tributing the  finished  product  being  slight,  in  comparison  with 
that  of  transporting  raw  materials,  the  plants  are  located,  in  the 
main,  with  regard  to  convenient  supplies  of  the  latter.  The 
result  is  that,  in  addition  to  the  greater  capital  and  labor  involved, 
breweries  are  much  more  widely  distributed  than  distilleries. 
There  are  few  cities  of  considerable  size  without  one  or  more 
brewing  plants.  Breweries  are  thus,  in  a  sense,  local  institutions 
representing  investments  of  local  capital  and  giving  employment 
to  local  labor.  Hence  the  deleterious  economic  effects  of  an 
anti-liquor  crusade  or  even  of  an  attempt  at  reasonable  regula- 
tion is  brought  home  to  the  community  in  a  very  specific  way 
through  the  local  brewer.  The  possible  disturbance  of  local 
investments  creates  more  or  less  sympathy  on  the  part  of  capital 
in  general  and,  at  the  same  time,  regulation  which  threatens  even 
remotely  the  positions  of  those  employed  in  the  plants  causes 
not  only  their  own  opposition  but  to  a  certain  degree  that  of 
organized  labor  as  a  whole. 

From  the  foregoing  it  may  be  seen  that  the  opposition  to 
regulation  which  might  be  expected  from  the  industry,  owing 
to  the  large  amount  of  capital  and  labor  involved,  is  greatly 
increased  by  the  wide  distribution  of  the  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments of  its  most  important  branch.  However,  if  those  were 
the  only  sources  of  power,  the  political  influence  of  the  liquor 
traffic  exerted  against  attempted  regulation  would  not  be  greater 
than  that  of  any  other  industry  similarly  situated.  It  is  the 
nature  of  the  retail  business  which  contributes  the  largest 
measure  of  political  power.    With  any  other  industry  which 


428     THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC  AND  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


attempted  opposition  to  governmental  regulation  its  means  of 
political  influence  would  practically  be  limited  to  those  already 
discussed.  But  the  peculiar  organization  of  the  retail  side  of 
the  liquor  traffic  adds  to  the  means  of  influence  already  men- 
tioned the  entire  capital  and  personnel  connected  with  that  part 
of  the  trade. 

Aside  from  tobacco  the  retailer  of  liquor  usually  sells  one 
commodity  only.    Therefore  his  profits — in  other  words  his 

living  —  is  dependent  upon  the  sale  of  that 
The  Retailer's  alone.  Any  regulation  which  restricts  the 
Profits  market  for  that  article  in  the  slightest  degree, 

by  just  so  much  affects  his  means  of  livelihood. 
His  interests  are  at  all  points  bound  up  with  those  of  the  manu- 
facturer and  consequently  any  interference  with  freedom  of  trade 
welds  into  one  complete  and  organized  opposition  the  capital 
and  personnel  of  the  entire  business  from  the  largest  producer 
to  the  smallest  retailer. 

A  restriction  upon  the  sale  of  a  necessity  of  life  will  not 
reduce  the  consumption  below  a  certain  standard.  For  in- 
stance, if  sales  are  forbidden  at  certain  hours  it  can  reasonably 
be  expected  that  increased  sales  at  other  hours  will  make  good 
the  loss.  On  the  other  hand  regulation  of  the  liquor  traffic, 
which  makes  it  impossible  or  even  inconvenient  to  purchase  at 
times,  results  in  a  diminution  of  trade  never  entirely  made 
good.  Liquor  is  not  a  necessity  of  life  and,  consequently,  sales 
prohibited  for  a  certain  time  are,  in  large  measure,  sales  lost. 
The  organized  opposition  of  liquor  dealers  to  Sunday  closing 
is  readily  explained  upon  this  ground.  Such  opposition  may  be 
supported  by  personal  liberty  organizations  and  may  clothe  itself 
in  the  garb  of  political  principle,  but  in  reality  the  retailer  is 
moved  almost  entirely  by  a  consideration  of  profits.  But  for 
that  the  saloonkeeper  would  be  glad  to  close  his  shop  on  Sunday 
and  secure  the  rest  so  welcome  to  merchants  of  other  descrip- 
tions. 

A  consideration  of  the  ties  which  bind  the  Hquor  traffic  into 
one  complete  working  organization  would  be  incomplete  with- 
out mention  of  the  more  or  less  direct  control  often  exercised 
by  the  manufacturer  over  the  retailer  by  ownership  of  the 


AUGUSTUS  RAYMOND  HATTON 


429 


licensed  property,  ownership  of  or  mortgage  on  the  saloon  fix- 
tures, or  by  acting  as  bondsman  for  the  licensee.  The  exact 
extent  of  this  direct  financial  control  cannot  definitely  be  stated. 
However,  there  is  sufficient  evidence  to  show  that  it  sometimes 
affects  a  large  percentage  of  the  saloons  in  a  given  city. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  indicate  why  the  entire  strength  of 
the  trade  is  easily  aligned  in  opposition  to  any  attempt  at  regu- 
lation which  threatens  to  curtail  profits.  How 
The  Strength  formidable  a  political  power  the  entirely  legiti- 
of  the  Trade  mate  voting  strength  of  the  liquor  traffic  may  be 
is  easily  shown.  Taking  the  extremely  conserva- 
tive position  that  each  licensed  saloon  would  probably  represent 
five  votes  the  strength  of  the  trade  would  be  3700  votes  for 
Indianapolis,  about  4000  for  Pittsburg,  8500  for  New  Orleans, 
9100  for  Cleveland,  11,400  for  San  Francisco,  35,000  for  Chicago 
and  52,700  for  New  York  City.  Probably,  to  most  persons  con- 
versant with  actual  conditions,  the  control  of  twice  the  number 
of  votes  we  have  assigned  to  each  establishment  would  not 
appear  unreasonable. 

But  it  is  not  simply  the  voting  strength  estimated  as  so  many 
individual  units  which  renders  the  political  force  of  the  liquor 
trade  so  potent.  To  the  force  of  numbers  is  added  the  strength 
which  comes  from  the  perfect  control  produced  by  unanimity 
of  interest.  It  is  a  vote  which  may  be  turned  in  any  direction 
with  a  promptness  which  gives  it  a  weight  far  beyond  its  mere 
numerical  importance.  Even  with  the  strength  credited  to 
it  by  the  figures  just  given  it  is  probably  safe  to  say  that  ordi- 
narily the  trade  would  be  able  to  command  the  situation. 
Under  the  circumstances  it  is  not  remarkable  that  party  leaders 
are  anxious  to  conciliate  and  win  the  liquor  vote  by  promises 
of  more  or  less  freedom  from  control. 

In  addition  to  the  enormous  political  power  which  may  be 
wielded  by  the  trade  owing  to  the  identity  of  interest  and  inti- 
mate relations  of  all  its  parts  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  the 
saloon  as  an  institution  is  peculiarly  fitted  to  become  the  center 
of  political  influence  among  certain  classes.  The  description 
of  the  saloon  as  "the  poor  man's  club"  is  not  without  an  element 
of  truth.    Among  the  poor  of  our  larger  cities  the  open  saloon 


43 o     THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC  AND  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

is  a  place  of  cheer  and  comfort  at  once  a  relief  from  the  monotony 
of  toil  and  more  attractive  than  the  place  called  home.  Besides 
it  is  only  too  often  the  only  place  which  offers  satisfaction  for 
a  real  social  craving.  As  places  for  political  meetings  and 
conferences  saloons  are  always  convenient  and  available.  Be- 
cause it  adds  to  his  trade  the  proprietor  is  glad  to  welcome 
such  gatherings.  Moreover  the  saloonkeeper  himself  is  in  a 
position  to  become  a  leader  of  those  who  come  regularly  to  his 
shop.  Although  the  entertainment  which  he  dispenses  is  paid 
for  he  seems  the  center  of  hospitality.  His  establishment  is 
made  a  place  of  convenience,  checks  are  cashed,  loans  made 
and  charity  at  times  dispensed.  As  the  stream  of  patrons  flow 
in  and  out  he  is  party  to  the  gossip  and  discussion  constantly 
in  progress.  He  thus  becomes  a  repertory  of  information 
regarding  conditions  about  him  and,  of  all  men  in  the  community, 
knows  its  life  most  intimately.  Then  again,  from  a  financial 
point  of  view,  he  is  Ukely  to  be  the  most  important  personage  of 
the  group  in  which  he  moves.  This,  together  with  the  fact  that 
he  mingles  upon  equal  terms  with  his  less  fortunate  neighbors, 
adds  greatly  to  his  political  strength.  Hence  in  communities 
of  a  certain  type  the  saloonkeeper  is  in  the  best  position  to  attain 
and  hold  political  leadership. 

In  connection  with  the  poUtical  influence  which  seems  to 
flow  naturally  to  the  retail  liquor  dealer  there  is  one  fact  of  great 
importance.  The  political  power  of  the  saloon 
The  Political  varies  with  the  class  which  it  serves.  Indeed, 
Power  of  the  taking  the  saloon  which  caters  mainly  to  a 
Saloon  laboring  population  as  a  point  of  departure,  the 

political  power  of  the  institution  appears  to 
decline  about  in  proportion  as  its  patrons  rise  in  the  scale  of 
well  being.  The  saloon  with  a  high  grade  patronage  is  rarely  a 
considerable  poHtical  factor  and  its  proprietor  is  seldom  found 
among  the  political  leaders.  Politicians  of  the  type  of  George  B. 
Cox  and  Michael  Kenna  are  products  of  the  retail  Uquor  traffic 
of  the  lower  if  not  of  the  thoroughly  disreputable  class.  The 
significance  of  this  condition  needs  to  be  grasped.  It  indi- 
cates at  once  the  source  of  a  part  of  the  influence  of  the  trade 
and  at  the  same  time  suggests  the  points  at  which  remedial 
measures  should  be  applied. 


AUGUSTUS  RAYMOND  HATTON 


431 


At  the  risk  of  being  tedious  it  has  seemed  necessary  to  call 
attention  to  some  of  the  tendencies  of  urban  life  as  they  affect 
the  drink  problem  and  to  point  out  those  features  of  the  business 
itself  which  fit  it  in  a  peculiar  manner  to  wield  political  influence. 
While  the  discussion  makes  no  pretense  of  completeness,  it 
may  serve  to  bring  into  the  foreground  certain  phases  of  the 
problem  which  must  be  given  careful  consideration  prior  to  any 
final  solution.  The  larger  moral  and  social  aspects  of  the  ques- 
tion have  been  left  entirely  aside.  They  are  the  basic  proposi- 
tions in  regard  to  which,  if  there  is  not  complete  argeement,  there 
is  at  least  a  certain  degree  of  unanimity;  for,  while  there  is  a 
considerable  difference  of  opinion  regarding  the  extent  to  which 
intoxicating  drink  is  chargeable  with  such  social  ills  as  poverty, 
crime  and  insanity  there  is  no  denial  of  the  fact  that  it  is  a  cause. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that  not  even  the  most  ardent  advocate  of 
personal  liberty  claims  for  the  liquor  traffic  the  same  degree  of 
freedom  accorded  to  other  lines  of  business. 

With  the  necessity  of  regulation  long  acknowledged  the  ex- 
perience of  our  states  in  dealing  with  the  liquor  traffic  has  been 
extremely  varied.  A  beginning  of  any  study  of  the  subject 
would  seem  to  demand  an  examination  of  at  least  existing  laws 
and  their  mode  of  operation.  From  that  source  a  wealth  of  infor- 
mation might  rightfully  be  expected;  for,  the  present  liquor 
legislation  in  the  United  States  presents  every  known  variety 
with  the  two  exceptions  of  state  monopoly  and  that  which,  like 
the  Gothenburg  System  and  the  English  Public  House  Trust 
Movement,  seeks  to  eliminate  private  profit  from  the  retail 
branch  of  the  trade  through  management  by  a  company  Umited 
to  a  fixed  return  upon  the  capital  invested.  The  latter  plan  has 
several  times  had  the  support  of  eminent  authority  in  this 
country  and  very  recently  has  been  advocated  for  Los  Angeles. 

It  was  in  view  of  the  wide  experience  derived  from  the  great 
variety  in  the  methods  of  dealing  with  the 
The  Move-  liquor  traffic  now  in  operation  that  the  National 
ment  for  Sup-  Municipal  League  decided  to  endeavor  to  bring 
pression  together  a  body  of  information  regarding  the 

actual  working  of  existing  liquor  legislation  in 
cities.    The  usefulness  of  some  such  inquiry  was  still  further 


432     THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC  AND  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


indicated  by  the  great  conflict  being  waged  against  the  traffic 
throughout  the  United  States.  It  has  already  been  pointed 
out  that  the  rapid  spread  of  the  movement  for  complete  suppres- 
sion either  by  state  wide  prohibition  or  some  form  of  local  option 
has  accentuated,  rather  than  solved,  the  problem  for  the  larger 
cities.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  of  all  sections  of  the  country 
the  cities  have  the  most  at  stake.  A  proper  solution  would  mean 
immense  gain  to  them  in  better  social  and  governmental  con- 
ditions; an  unwise  policy  will  have  its  bitterest  fruits  in  the 
cities.  In  fact  the  success  or  failure  of  any  plan  of  dealing 
with  this  question  must  ultimately  turn  upon  its  applicability 
to  urban  conditions. 

As  a  beginning  to  the  inquiry  a  list  of  seventeen  questions 
was  sent  out  to  persons  known  to  be  familiar  with  conditions 
in  their  own  localities.  The  intention  was  to  secure  in  this 
way  sufficient  material  for  a  preliminary  study.  Those  in 
charge  of  the  work  have  been  under  no  misapprehensions  as 
to  the  limitations  of  the  method  of  procedure  employed.  It  is 
difficult  to  frame  questions  for  a  printed  list  in  such  manner 
that  the  reader  will  get  a  clear  conception  as  to  the  nature  of 
the  information  desired.  Besides  such  questions  are  usually 
submitted  to  busy  men  who  often  find  it  impossible  to  answer 
the  inquiries  with  adequate  fullness.  No  doubt  results  entirely 
satisfactory  can  only  be  secured  by  a  personal  investigation  of 
each  locality  by  some  one  with  a  thorough  understanding  of  a 
carefully  prepared  general  plan.  However,  the  present  inquiry 
has  resulted  in  a  considerable  body  of  distinctly  valuable  infor- 
mation, though  not  complete  at  any  one  point,  and  not  dis- 
tributed as  to  cities  with  the  evenness  that  could  be  desired.  On 
this  account  it  must  be  said  that  the  data  collected  is  insufficient 
for  any  final  conclusion  although  from  it  certain  valuable  sug- 
gestions may  be  derived. 

One  of  the  most  significant  facts  revealed  by  the  inquiry  is 
Lack  of  la.ck  of  any  definite  program  in  the  minds  of 

_  _  intelligent  students  for  dealing  with  the  liquor 

_  problem.    In  the  replies  received  there  was  a 

surprising  absence  of  suggestions  as  to  methods 
of  remedying  laws  admittedly  defective.    Moreover  very  few 


AUGUSTUS  RAYMOND  HATTON 


433 


who  contributed  to  our  stock  of  information  have  had  any 
definite  plan  for  removing  the  traffic  from  politics  in  their  own 
cities.  Even  allowing  a  liberal  margin  for  those  who  did  not  wish 
to  come  forward  with  an  ofE-hand  solution,  there  was  revealed 
a  widespread  feeling  of  uncertainty  as  to  what  should  be  done. 
Under  the  circumstances  one  could  not  avoid  the  conclusion 
that  an  organization  of  known  impartiality  which  could  present 
a  well  considered  plan  of  action  based  upon  adequate  informa- 
tion would  be  performing  a  splendid  service. 

Beyond  the  lack  of  a  definite  program  the  most  important 
conclusion  to  which  the  impartial  student  is  forced  is  that  under 
present  conditions  no  one  method  of  dealing  with  the  liquor  traffic 
has  proved  uniformly  successful.  Methods  which  work  well  in 
one  locality  fail  in  another.  In  some  cities  any  one  of  several 
plans  appears  to  have  worked  fairly  well ;  in  others  there  has 
been  widespread  dissatisfaction  with  all.  In  short,  back  of  the 
success  or  failure  of  every  plan,  lie  the  conditioning  factors  of 
the  number,  class  and  homogeneity  of  population  and  especially 
that  indefinable  something  called  public  sentiment. 

Turning  to  an  examination  of  the  methods  employed  in  deal- 
ing with  the  traffic  in  this  country  this  discussion  will  confine 
itself  to  certain  general  principles.  What  is  presented  is  largely 
in  the  nature  of  tentative  conclusions  which  may  serve  as  a 
guide  to  discussion.  The  views  expressed  are  based  only  in 
part  on  the  results  of  the  League's  investigation. 

Laws  dealing  with  the  liquor  traffic  aim  either  at  prohibition 
or  regulation.  Under  the  first  come  state-wide  prohibition 
and  local  option  in  its  various  forms.  The  second  class  includes 
all  means  of  control  short  of  suppression. 

Prohibition  by  law  operating  uniformly  throughout  the  state 
to  which  it  is  applied  is  one  of  the  highest  praised  and  most  con- 
demned institutions  which  this  country  knows.  The  fact  seems 
to  be  that  it  deserves  without  stint  neither  the 
State  one  nor  the  other.    In  a  few  instances,  notably 

Prohibition  in  states  with  a  fairly  homogeneous  population 
and  outside  the  larger  cities,  it  has  been  reason- 
ably successful  not  only  in  county  districts  but  in  cities  as  well. 
In  North  Dakota  and  perhaps  in  a  majority  of  the  cities  of 


434     THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC  AND  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


Kansas,  prohibition  cannot  be  said  to  have  been  altogether  a 
failure.  True  there  have  been  violations  of  the  law,  predomi- 
nantly in  the  border  towns  of  North  Dakota  and  in  the  larger  cities 
of  Kansas,  but  with  those  exceptions,  probably  not  more  than 
in  cities  with  licensed  traffic.  The  same  can  be  said  as  to  the 
greater  portion  of  the  territory  of  the  state  of  Maine.  The  trial 
of  the  plan  in  the  south  has  not  yet  continued  long  enough  to 
warrant  a  definite  opinion.  However,  owing  to  the  additional 
incentive  of  keeping  intoxicants  away  from  the  negro,  there  is 
apparently  a  greater  disposition  to  enforce  the  law  than  is  found 
in  northern  communities.  On  the  other  hand  in  Bangor,  Port- 
land and  the  other  more  important  cities  of  Maine  and  in  some 
of  the  larger  cities  of  Kansas  state-wide  prohibition  as  applied 
to  city  government  has  developed  such  general  disregard  of  the 
law  that  the  effect  is  eqtdvalent  to  local  option  by  nulUfication. 

What  has  been  said  is  equivalent  to  the  time-worn  remark 
that  state  prohibition  is  successful  in  those  places  where  public 
sentiment  supports  it.  By  success  is  not  meant  the  absence  of 
any  violations  of  the  law.  The  advocates  of  prohibition  have 
a  right  to  claim  success  if  their  measures  are  enforced  with  the 
same  degree  of  effectiveness  as  laws  for  the  prevention  of  crimes 
of  lesser  degree.  Judged  from  this  standpoint  it  can  fairly  be 
claimed  that  prohibition  has  been  successful  in  the  case  of  the 
majority  of  the  cities  of  the  states  where  tried.  But  it  must 
be  admitted  that  according  to  the  same  standard  it  cannot  be 
adjudged  a  success  in  the  large  cities  of  Maine  or  even  in  many 
of  the  cities  of  Kansas. 

The  fundamental  difficulty  of  state-wide  prohibition  as  applied 
under  present  conditions  is  that  it  does  not  take  account  of  the 
thousands  of  persons  who  not  only  do  not  believe  in  the  poUcy 
of  suppression  but  who  see  no  wrong  in  moderate  indulgence  in 
intoxicants.  These  persons,  while  deploring  the  evils  of  drtmken- 
ness,  are  as  sincere  in  their  \'iews  as  are  the  prohibitionists. 
The  result  of  carrj'ing  a  poUcy  in  the  face  of  considerable  oppo- 
sition is  not  necessarily  serious.  Indeed  it  rarely  is  serious  if 
the  opposing  force  is  scattered  with  some  degree  of  uniformity 
throughout  the  entire  population.  It  is  when  opposition  becomes 
localized  that  difficulty  arises  in  enforcing  a  disputed  policy. 


AUGUSTUS  RAYMOND  HATTON 


435 


That  is  precisely  what  occurs  in  the  opposition  to  restrictions 
on  the  Hquor  traffic  and  especially  to  the  policy  of  complete 
suppression.  The  class  favorable  to  the  liquor  traffic  is  to  be 
found  predominantly  in  the  cities  where  they  may  even  form  a 
majority  of  the  population. 

The  defect  in  the  policy  of  state-wide  prohibition  just  men- 
tioned is  enhanced  by  our  system  of  local  administration  of 
general  state  laws.  With  officers  locally  chosen  it  is  too  much 
to  expect  the  vigorous  enforcement  of  laws  to  which  their  con- 
stitutents  are  opposed.  Even  an  active  and  compact  minority 
is  usually  able  to  set  a  liquor  law  at  defiance  unless  the  remainder 
of  the  people  are  particularly  aggressive  for  enforcement.  In 
Maine  from  time  to  time  the  central  government  has  attempted 
to  force  the  prohibition  law  upon  unwilling  cities  by  means 
of  state  officers.  Taking  no  account  of  the  objection  to  state 
enforcement  as  a  violation  of  the  principle  of  home  rule  the 
expedient,  when  tried,  has  never  been  permanently  successful. 
The  strain  upon  the  state  government  has  proved  too  great, 
enforcement  has  been  spasmodic  and  in  the  end  the  attempt  has 
always  been  adandoned.  Judging  from  experience  it  seems 
fairly  clear  that  state-wide  prohibition  is  very  likely  to  break 
down  when  applied  to  cities  in  which  there  is  not  a  vigorous 
public  sentiment  favorable  to  the  law.  In  the  absence  of  such 
public  sentiment  the  law  is  usually  more  or  less  openly  violated 
with  the  attendant  result  of  encouraging  lack  of  regard  for  law 
in  general. 

In  the  discussion  of  state  prohibition  fairness  demands  that 
some  allowance  be  made  for  defects  in  enforcement  owing  to 
the  inability  of  the  states  to  adequately  control  the  shipment  of 
liquor  from  the  outside.  The  semi-protection  which  liquor 
receives  from  the  Federal  Government  as  an  article  of  interstate 
commerce  is  something  of  a  handicap  to  the  prohibition  states. 
Whatever  one  may  think  of  the  policy  of  prohibition  there 
should  be  no  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  desirablity  of  giving 
the  utmost  freedom  to  the  states  to  carry  out  any  policy  which 
they  have  a  constitutional  right  to  adopt.  The  lack  of  power 
of  the  states  over  interstate  shipments  of  liquor  is  an  obstacle 
in  the  way  of  local  option  as  well  as  of  state  prohibition.    It  is 


436     THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC  AND  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


to  be  hoped  that  congress  will  find  some  constitutional  way  to 
remove  the  shackles  which  the  lack  of  Federal  legislation  now 
places  upon  the  free  action  of  the  states.  After  all,  the  ques- 
tion involved  is  simply  that  of  home  rule  and  it  should  be  con- 
ceded that  the  application  of  that  principle  is  as  desirable  between 
the  states  and  the  Federal  Government  as  between  a  state  and 
its  cities. 

If  one  turns  from  the  consideration  of  state-wide  prohibition 
to  prohibition  by  local  option,  it  will  be  seen  that  it  is  free  from 

many  of  the  objections  which  may  be  urged 
Local  Option      against  the  former.    Its  strong  point  is  that 

it  bases  the  law  definitely  on  public  sentiment 
in  each  locality  concerned.  Wherever  the  principle  has  been 
rigorously  followed  of  making  the  local  option  district  correspond 
to  the  division  of  local  government  upon  which  enforcement 
must  depend,  the  poUcy  has  been  successful.  In  coimties  which 
are  practically  rural  the  district  may  be  successfully  based  on 
county  lines.  However,  local  option  by  counties  may  be  open  to 
some  of  the  objections  to  state  prohibition.  Counties  containing 
cities  of  considerable  size  may  find  that  the  city  votes  adversely 
to  suppression,  while  the  country  districts  vote  in  favor  of  it. 
In  such  cases  if  the  city  vote  is  overborne  by  that  of  the  popula- 
tion outside  difficulties  similar  to  those  which  occur  when  pro- 
hibition is  forced  upon  a  city  by  a  state  law  are  likely  to  arise. 
The  county  authorities  find  themselves  powerless  to  enforce 
the  law  within  the  city  limits.  The  city  administration  will 
not  enforce  it  because  dependent  for  election  upon  city  votes. 
Therefore,  if  the  county  is  adopted  as  the  local  option  district,  it 
would  probably  be  wiser  to  provide  that  in  counties  containing 
cities  above  a  certain  population  a  vote  to  be  successful  must  carry 
in  both  the  city  and  country  districts.  This  would  avoid  the  non- 
enforcement  of  the  law  which  would  almost  certainly  arise  within 
the  cities  when  carried  for  no  license  by  the  weight  of  country 
votes. 

The  objection  to  local  option  as  applied  to  cities  on  the  part 
of  the  advocate  of  the  suppression  of  the  liquor  traffic  is  that 
the  larger  cities  will  not  vote  for  prohibition  when  given  an 
opportunity  to  do  so.    This  is  unquestionably  true.    No  one 


AUGUSTUS  RAYMOND  HATTON 


437 


fancies  that  New  York,  Chicago,  Philadelphia,  Boston,  Cleveland, 
Cincinnati,  Pittsburgh,  or  any  one  of  dozens  of  the  other  gi-eater 
cities  could  be  brought  to  abolish  the  liquor  traffic  by  a  vote 
confined  to  their  own  borders.  But  neither  would  prohibition 
forced  upon  the  same  cities  by  outside  votes  result  in  anything 
other  than  a  travesty  on  law  enforcement.  Such  results  we 
have  already  seen  accompany  that  policy  in  the  case  of  cities 
of  even  moderate  size.  So  far  the  larger  cities  have  always 
exercised  their  option  in  regard  to  the  sale  of  intoxicants  whatever 
the  law  may  have  been.  On  the  other  hand  the  majority  of  the 
cities  in  which  a  state-wide  prohibition  law  can  be  successfully 
enforced  would  vote  for  prohibition  under  local  option.  The 
experience  of  Vermont  is  probably  typical.  As  a  prohibition 
state  the  law  was  pretty  successfully  enforced  except  in  a  few  of 
the  larger  cities  where  a  great  deal  of  illegal  selling  rendered  it 
more  or  less  of  a  dead  letter.  Under  the  present  local  option  law 
less  than  30  out  of  246  cities  and  towns  voted  for  license  last 
March.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  in  Maine,  North  Dakota 
and  Kansas  the  results  under  local  option  would  not  be  far 
different.  Indeed,  one  is  led  almost  irresistibly  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  actual  degree  of  suppression  under  a  well  developed 
scheme  of  local  option  will  not  be  far  different  from  that  under 
state-wide  prohibition.  It  is  well  to  remember  also  that  while 
none  of  the  large  cities  could  be  expected  to  vote  for  total  sup- 
pression that  the  principle  of  local  option  can  be  extended  to 
districts  within  the  city.  Such  a  provision  in  addition  to  general 
city  option  is  highly  desirable. 

What,  then,  is  the  value  of  state  prohibition  and  local  option 
as  solutions  of  the  drink  problem  and  what  are  their  effects 
upon  city  government?  In  this  connection  there  are  some 
questions  which  cannot  definitely  be  answered.  Under  local 
option  and,  in  cities  where  public  sentiment  is  strongly  against 
the  saloon,  under  state  prohibition  the  open  saloon  is  abolished, 
public  drinking  is  suppressed  and  the  total  amount  of  liquor  con- 
sumed is  doubtless  greatly  reduced 

Neither  prohibition  nor  local  option  has  prevented  the  private 
use  of  intoxicants  and  it  is  impossible  to  say  to  what  extent  the 
former  public  drinker  continues  to  gratify  his  appetite  by  pur- 


438     THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC  AND  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


chases  for  home  consumption.  In  most  instances  where  saloons 
are  abolished  druggists  attempt  to  supply  the  demand  by  illegal 
sales  and  this  is  an  evil  difficult  to  suppress.  In  North  Dakota 
the  rigorous  policy  has  been  adopted  of  giving  to  the  people  of 
cities  the  right  to  refuse  permits  to  druggists,  with  the  result 
that,  in  many  places,  intoxicants  cannot  be  purchased  of  drug- 
gists for  any  purpose. 

Under  a  policy  of  suppression  it  is  clear  that  the  liquor  which 
continues  to  be  consumed  is  of  the  more  highly  intoxicating 
kinds — distilled  liquor  taking  the  place  of  malt  drinks.  As  to 
the  effect  of  suppression  upon  drunkenness  and  alcoholism  there 
is  a  wide  difference  of  opinion.  Upon  those  points  statistics  are 
unreliable  and  accurate  conclusions  cannot  be  drawn.  However, 
the  weight  of  opinion  seems  to  support  the  view  that  both  are 
materially  decreased. 

It  is  in  the  matter  of  political  influence  of  the  hquor  traffic 
that  suppression  has  its  most  marked  results.  The  destruction 
of  the  open  saloon  removes  the  local  centers  through  which  the 
organized  trade  is  able  to  bring  its  most  powerful  influence  to 
bear  upon  city  governments.  The  voting  strength  of  those  who 
favor  the  saloon  in  a  sense  remains,  but  it  is  without  organiza- 
tion and  definite  direction.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
total  suppression  of  the  saloon  when  supported  by  pubUc  senti- 
ment comes  as  near  removing  the  liquor  question  from  politics 
as  is  possible  so  long  as  there  is  any  considerable  number  of 
people  who  desire  intoxicants  and  such  drinks  are  manufactured 
at  all. 

The  conclusion  reached  from  the  discussion  thus  far  is  that 
the  first  step  in  dealing  with  the  liquor  traffic  should  be  to  give 

to  each  city  the  right  to  decide  for  or  against  the 
Regulation         saloon.    But  it  is  clear  that  as  yet  local  option  is 

not  a  complete  solution  of  the  problem.  It  may 
prove  to  be  so  for  many  cities  of  moderate  size,  but  the  larger 
places  are  still  beyond  its  influence  except  in  so  far  as  local  option 
districts  are  created  within  the  cities  themselves.  For  the  latter 
class  of  cities  some  system  of  regulation  is  the  only  alternative. 
And  here,  it  must  be  confessed,  the  problem  reaches  its  greatest 
complexity.    The  questions  involved  are  so  numerous  that  the 


AUGUSTUS  RAYMOND  HATTON 


439 


limits  of  this  paper  will  not  permit  a  detailed  discussion.  Neither 
is  there  any  body  of  accurate  information  available  upon  which 
to  base  a  complete  system.  The  most  that  can  now  be  done  is 
to  indicate  the  purposes  which  regulation  is  designed  to  accom- 
plish, to  point  out  a  few  things  in  regard  to  which  there  is  a 
considerable  degree  of  unanimity,  and  finally  to  suggest  certain 
other  measures  which  commend  themselves  to  the  writer. 

The  objects  of  regulation  should  be  to  prevent  or  minimize 
intemperance,  promote  order,  prevent  crime,  protect  the  morals 
of  the  community  and  keep  the  traffic  from  exerting  an  undue 
political  influence.  The  latter  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  tasks 
which  regulation  is  called  upon  to  accomplish,  for  in  that  respect 
it  is  expected  to  prevent  something  of  which  it  is  one  of  the 
most  fruitful  causes. 

Among  the  questions  regarding  regulation  as  to  which  there 
is  little  difference  of  opinion  the  desirability  of  limiting  the 
ntmiber  of  licenses  stands  easily  first.  The  expressions  of  opinion 
upon  that  point  and  the  testimony  of  experience  are  almost 
wholly  in  its  favor.  One  of  its  most  obvious  results  is  the 
greater  ease  of  controlling  and  supervising  the  retail  trade.  With 
no  restriction  upon  the  multiplication  of  saloons  the  local  authori- 
ties are  likely  to  find  it  extremely  difficult  to  keep  watch  upon 
aU  the  Ucensed  places  Restriction  in  number  also  has  the  effect 
of  raising  the  character  of  the  individual  saloon.  With  a  limited 
number  of  licenses  the  business  is  likely  to  be  better  conducted 
because  each  license  becomes  more  valuable  and  the  fear  of 
revocation  is  thus  a  more  serious  matter  to  the  licensee.  The 
greater  profitableness  of  the  trade  also  removes  a  temptation, 
always  present  to  the  saloonkeeper  under  unrestricted  compe- 
tition, to  add  to  slender  profits  by  going  into  partnership  with 
the  social  evil. 

But  one  of  the  most  marked  effects  of  limiting  the  number  of 
licenses  is  upon  the  political  power  of  the  trade.  In  this  respect 
the  expedient  operates  favorably  in  two  ways.  The  simple 
reduction  in  the  number  of  saloons  leaves  fewer  places  from  which 
political  influence  may  radiate  and  decreases  the  number  of 
persons  having  a  definite  financial  interest  in  the  business.  The 
trade  is  thus  deprived  of  a  portion  of  its  influence  derived  from 


440     THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC  AND  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

the  saloon  as  a  local  center,  and  at  the  same  time  it  loses  a  part  of 
its  organizing  and  fighting  force  because  there  are  fewer  saloon- 
keepers. In  the  second  place  the  higher  class  saloon  which  is 
the  result  of  limiting  the  number  wields  less  political  influence 
than  the  cheaper  and  less  reputable  place  which  it  supplants. 
Attention  has  previously  been  called  to  the  disproportionate 
polititcal  influence  of  the  low  saloon.  Limiting  the  number  of 
licenses  appears  to  be  one  of  the  most  effective  methods  of  get- 
ting rid  of  this  evil. 

The  number  of  licenses  in  proportion  to  population  cannot 
be  fixed  at  a  figure  suitable  for  all  cities.  Each  city  should 
adjust  the  ratio  in  accordance  with  local  conditions.  In  prin- 
ciple it  would  seem  that  the  figure  should  be  placed  as  low  as 
possible  without  causing  such  inconvenience  as  to  encourage 
illicit  sales. 

Another  principle  of  regulation  which  seems  to  meet  with 
general  approval  is  that  of  excluding  the  saloon  from  certain 
districts.  The  sections  most  commonly  agreed  upon  are 
strictly  residence  districts  and  the  neighborhood  of  schools, 
churches,  and  parks.  Indeed  the  tendency  is  to  confine  the 
saloon  more  and  more  to  the  business  sections.  This  is  usually 
accomplished  by  permitting  residence  districts  to  exclude  dram 
shops  by  means  of  petition  or  through  the  requirement  of 
consents.  A  few  cities,  notably  Nashville  and  Minneapolis,  set 
definite  limits  beyond  which  the  saloon  may  not  go.  In  some 
cases  there  is  ward  option.  In  general  there  seems  to  be  no 
good  reason  why  local  option  by  wards  or  by  smaller  voting  dis- 
tricts should  not  be  more  generally  adopted.  In  Chicago,  in 
addition  to  consent  laws  and  prohibition  territory  which 
the  city  inherited  from  annexed  villages,  the  city  council  has  the 
authority  to  create  prohibition  districts  and  has  exercised  its 
power  to  do  so.  This  again  is  an  expedient  worthy  of  imitation. 
The  chief  argument  for  setting  limits  to  saloon  territory  within 
the  city  is  that  it  makes  for  good  order  and  facilitates  control. 

That  the  selling  of  liquor  should  be  conducted  as  openly  as 
any  other  business  is  quite  generally  conceded.  The  removal 
of  obstructions  at  windows  and  doors  should  be  insisted  upon. 
In  fact  many  reputable  liquor  dealers  argue  that  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  trade  itself  the  removal  of  screens  is  desirable. 


AUGUSTUS  RAYMOND  HATTON 


441 


There  remain  to  be  considered,  briefly,  certain  measures  of 
regulation  in  regard  to  which  there  is  not  such  general  agreement, 
and,  imfortunately  for  the  construction  of  a  general  policy, 
these  involve  some  of  the  most  vital  phases  of  the  question. 
The  more  important  of  these  are  the  nature  of  the  licensing 
authorities,  license  fees  or  taxation,  Sunday  closing  and  the 
power  of  control  to  be  given  to  city  authorities. 

There  is  not  complete  agreement  among  the  advocates  of 
regulation  that  any  system  of  licensing  is  desirable.  Many 
prefer  instead  a  fixed  tax  to  be  paid  by  all  who  engage  in  the 
trade  with  no  other  restriction  upon  entering  the  business. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  it  is  difficult  to  construct  a  licensing 
authority  which  will  not  be  susceptible  to  political  influence. 
On  the  other  hand  the  plan  of  fixed  taxation  cannot  readily  be 
used  in  connection  with  other  desirable  measures  of  control,  e.  g., 
limitation  in  the  number  of  saloons.  For  that  reason,  in  spite 
of  the  dangers  which  beset  a  licensing  system,  it  seems  preferable 
to  the  uniform  tax.  In  any  plan  of  control  through  license 
the  manner  of  constituting  the  licensing  authority  should  be 
worked  out  with  the  utmost  care.  It  would  seem  best  to  make 
it  an  independent  authority  in  order  to  avoid  burdening  officers 
elected  for  other  purposes  with  duties  not  pertaining  to  their 
office  and  to  remove  from  them  the  temptation  of  using  their 
licensing  authority  to  further  their  political  ambitions. 

As  regards  the  amount  of  license  fee  or  tax  to  be  exacted  there 
is  a  wide  difference  of  opinion  although  high  license  is  rapidly 
coming  to  be  the  prevailing  type.  So  long  as  city  authorities 
and  the  people  in  general  regard  high  license 
Liquor  Fees  as  predominantly  a  method  of  control  and  not 
and  Taxation  as  a  means  of  raising  revenue  little  objection 
can  be  offered  to  it.  However,  there  is  always 
the  danger  that  the  profitableness  of  the  saloon  as  a  revenue 
producer  will  blind  both  the  authorities  and  the  taxpayers  to 
its  shortcomings.  The  situation  in  Chicago  may  be  taken  as  a 
case  in  point.  The  license  fee  was  raised  from  $500  to  $1000 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  increasing  the  city  revenue.  At  the  present 
time  about  one-fifth  of  the  total  local  revenue  and  one-third  of 
the  revenue  of  the  city  corporate  is  derived  from  saloon-license 


442     THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC  AND  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


fees.  There  is  a  serious  question  as  to  whether  there  is  not 
created  by  that  situation  an  interest  favorable  to  the  saloon  on 
the  part  of  the  taxpayer  which  may  operate  to  prevent  desirable 
regulation  and  control.  High  license  in  connection  with  decided 
limitations  as  to  number  is  not  so  open  to  objection  upon  these 
grounds. 

The  whole  question  of  the  relation  of  liquor  taxation  to  city 
finances  is  one  deserving  a  most  careful  and  exhaustive  investiga- 
tion. Until  that  has  been  done  it  will  be  impossible  to  speak 
with  authority  upon  the  points  just  discussed. 

The  power  of  the  city  to  control  the  liquor  traffic  within  its 
borders  is  a  matter  of  great  importance.  It  involves  the  two 
great  questions  of  the  right  and  duty  of  the  state  to  legislate  and 
enforce  its  laws  in  the  interest  of  the  whole  people  as  against 
the  city  claim  of  local  autonomy.  In  general  the  powers  of  the 
city  in  this  respect  are  not  wide.  Owing  to  the  well  known 
disposition  of  cities  toward  liberal  tendencies  the  state  govern- 
ments have  been  strongly  inclined  to  make  most  of  the  provisons 
for  the  regulation  of  the  liquor  traffic.  Even  in  the  case  of  the 
few  cities  which  have  been  given  broad  powers  over  the  traffic 
the  legislature  has  usually  pretty  fully  preempted  the  field 
with  legislation.  Some  of  the  state  regulations  are  demanded  by 
the  state  at  large;  many  are  of  such  a  nature  that  they  had 
far  better  be  left  to  the  local  authorities.  This  state  inter- 
ference is  offset  by  the  cities  through  the  power  of  local  admin- 
istration of  state  laws.  The  resulting  situation  is  often  far  from 
desirable. 

It  seems  clear  that  if  state  legislatures  are  to  continue  to 
legislate  for  the  cities  upon  this  question  there  should  be  provided 
some  means  of  state  enforcement.  Direct  enforcement  of 
liquor  laws  by  state  police  has  not  proved  practicable.  Whether 
any  better  results  could  be  attained  by  local  enforcement  under 
strong  central  administrative  supervision  is  a  question  which 
cannot  definitely  be  answered.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
unless  state  enforcement  can  be  made  effective  the  entire  situa- 
tion should  be  turned  over  to  the  city  authorities  so  that  there 
may,  at  least,  be  harmony  between  law  and  practice.  The 
recent  experience  of  Chicago  with  Sunday  closing  is  a  striking 


AUGUSTUS  RAYMOND  HATTON 


443 


example  of  unenforced  state  liquor  legislation.  The  spectacle 
of  one  jury  after  another  refusing  to  convict  in  the  face  of  the 
plainest  evidence  is  not  attractive.  A  high  regard  for  the  sanc- 
tity of  law  is  especially  necessary  if  life  is  to  be  tolerable  under 
urban  conditions.  The  present  state  of  much  of  our  liquor  legis- 
lation is  productive  of  anything  but  a  law-abiding  spirit. 

In  conclusion  it  may  be  well  to  remember  that  there  are 
many  things  which  are  contributing  to  the  solution  of  the  liquor 
problem  which  were  not  designed  especially  for  that  purpose. 
The  conditions  under  which  much  of  our  present  city  life  is 
lived  and  especially  the  nature  and  environment  of  labor  have 
the  saloon  and  drink  as  their  natural  accompaniment.  High 
types  of  men  and  women  cannot  be  produced  amid  such  sur- 
roundings. The  fact  needs  to  be  faced  that  the  drink  problem 
may  be  as  much  a  result  of  the  conditions  under  which  men  live 
and  labor  as  it  is  the  cause  of  the  misery  which  seems  to  flow  from 
it  alone.  The  shortening  of  the  hours  of  labor,  improved  dwell- 
ings, more  attractive  and  sanitary  surroundings  amid  which  to 
work,  easily  accessible  libraries,  parks,  playgrounds,  gymna- 
siums and  baths — and  even  a  better  knowledge  of  cookery — all 
are  contributing  their  share  to  the  solution  of  the  drink  prob- 
lem. Many  men  drink  today  because  physically  and  mentally 
they  feel  the  need  of  artificial  stimulus.  Others  frequent  the 
saloon  because  it  is  a  social  center  and  relatively  an  attractive 
place.  With  the  possibility  of  a  more  nearly  normal  life  and 
with  places  of  superior  attractions  where  men  may  indulge  in 
virile  pastimes  the  saloon  will  lose  at  least  a  part  of  its  patronage. 


Banquet  to  the  Members  and  Delegates  of 
the  National  Municipal  League  and  the 
American  Civic  Association,  held  at  the 
Hotel  Schenley. 

Thursday  Evening,  November  19,  1908,  7.30  p.  m. 

The  usual  banquet  in  honor  of  the  National  Municipal  League 
and  American  Civic  Association  was  held  at  the  Hotel  Schenley 
on  Thursday  evening,  November  19,  the  Hon.  George  W.  Guthrie, 
Mayor  of  Pittsburgh,  presiding. 

Mayor  Guthrie:  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  It  is  my  very  pleasant  duty, 
on  behalf  of  the  various  committees  having  charge  of  this  meeting  and 
these  gatherings,  to  say  to  our  guests  that  it  has  been  a  great  pleasure 
to  us  to  have  them  with  us  on  this  occasion,  and  also,  on  behalf  of  the 
people  of  Pittsburgh  to  say  to  the  various  speakers  that  there  is  no  feel- 
ing among  us  that  anything  that  has  been  said  in  way  of  criticism  has 
any  other  purpose  than  a  kindly  desire  to  benefit  us  and  all  other  cities. 
[Applause.]  I  do  not  think  there  is  in  the  minds  of  any  of  the  people  of 
Pittsburgh  any  feeling  except  that  of  gratitude  to  those  who  have  pointed 
out  to  us  things  to  be  corrected  and  which  we  can  hope  to  correct.  For 
ourselves,  permit  me  to  say  to  you  we  are  aware  here  that  the  Pittsburgh 
Survey  was  made  not  in  any  spirit  of  unkindly  criticism,  to  Pittsburgh, 
but  because  those  having  it  in  charge  and  we  believed  that  what  could 
be  shown  here  was  simply  typical  of  all  the  cities  of  the  United  States 
under  similar  conditions.  What  was  wrong  we  wanted 
A  r  Vi  H     *°  know,  and  I  am  glad  to  say  that  many  of  the 

"  things  for  which  we  deserved  criticism  and  which  were 

Results  referred  to  in  this  report  have  already,  by  reason  of 

that,  become  things  of  the  past.  [Applause.]  Old 
Tammany  Hall  and  Yellow  Row  for  instance  are  no  longer  blotches  on 
our  fair  city.  They  are  matters  of  history  and  regret.  It  is  with  this 
spirit  that  we  have  heard  these  things,  and  we  have  laid  them  to  our 
hearts  with  the  promise  that  what  has  not  been  corrected  for  want  of 
time  will  be  corrected  in  the  near  future.  [Applause.] 

Now,  I  know  that  as  chairman  of  the  meeting  I  am  not  expected  to 
make  any  long  address,  but  I  want  to  tell  you  a  tradition — a  story  which 


(444) 


HON.  GEORGE  W.  GUTHRIE 


445 


some  of  you  have  heard  before,  because  I  have  told  it  before;  but  it  comes 
aptly  to  point  a  moral;  and  as  some  of  you  may  not  have  heard  of  it  and 
others  of  you  may  not  have  thought  of  it  in  connection  with  this  moral 
which  I  want  to  point  out  I  will  repeat  it.  There  is  a  story  that  in  the 
the  long  past  when  an  arrogant  organization,  rich  with  the  ill-gotten 
plunder  taken  from  a  subject  people  and  arrogant  from  long  years  of 
uninterrupted  rule,  determined  to  remove  from  their  midst  a  reformer 
named  Daniel,  who  by  his  persistence  had  become  annoying  to  them, 
they  proposed  to  give  a  dinner  to  the  lions  at  which  he  should  be  served 
as  the  "piece  de  resistance."  When  the  dinner  was  served  and  Daniel 
looked  at  the  lions,  hungry  and  anxious  for  the  banquet,  tradition  tells 
us  that  he  said  "Well,  at  least  this  I  have  to  be  thankful  for.  There  will 
be  no  after  dinner  speeches  after  this  banquet.  [Laughter.]  Now,  the 
moral  which  I  want  to  point  out  to  you  is  this:  You  cannot  remove 
from  the  pathway  of  the  wrongdoer  a  reformer  who  can  welcome  death 
willingly,  when  he  feels  that  his  death  will  aid,  in  some  small  way,  in  the 
uplift  of  humanity  and  the  relief  of  the  world.  And  I  might  also  point 
out  to  you  too  how  unwise  Daniel  was  with  all  his  wisdom  in  supposing 
that  he  could  even  by  his  death  change  a  social  custom  deeply  seated  in 
social  usage  and  supported  by  the  "best"  people  of  the  country. 

Now,  the  reforms  for  which  Daniel  was  working  continued  even  after 
that  dinner;  he  did  not  die  on  that  occasion,  but  when  he  did  die  the  race 


by  those  to  be  reformed  that  "you  don't  understand  these  things.  You 
have  not  been  trained  and  educated  in  the  capacity  and  in  the  science 
of  governing  people;  you  ought  not  to  undertake  it  or  attempt  to  inter- 
fere with  those  who  have  had  practical  experience." 

Well,  as  we  look  along  the  pages  of  history,  we  find  the  same  objections 
to  all  reformers. 

King  John  told  the  barons  of  England  "You  don't  know  how  to  govern 
a  kingdom.  You  must  not  interfere  with  the  kingly  right  and  the  kingly 
perogative,  and  the  king  of  England." 

And  yet  the  charter  which  the  Enghsh  barons  got  signed  at  Runny- 
mede  has  continued  to  be  a  blessing  to  that  portion  of  mankind  who  have 
enjoyed  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  common  law  of  England  for  all 
the  years  which  have  passed  since. 

Charles  I  thought  that  it  was  a  great  piece  of  presumption  for  a  tanner 
to  undertake  to  displace  him  who  had  been  bom  blessed  with  the  divine 
right  of  kings  to  misrule  and  misgovern  England  as  he  saw  fit  and  assume 
to  govern  in  his  stead.  But  Cromwell  went  ahead  and  the  head  which 
had  been  anointed  with  the  consecrating  oil  which  Shakespeare  tells  us 


The  Race  of 
Reformers 


of  reformers  did  not  cease;  they  have  gone  on  during 
all  the  centuries  still  and  persist  in  their  pernicious 
habits  of  trying  to  make  things  better,  so  I  have  been 
frequently  told;  and  somehow  or  other  it  don't  seem 
to  make  any  difference  with  them  when  they  are  told 


446 


DINNER  SPEECHES 


King  Henry  thought  that  all  the  rough  waters  of  the  Red  Sea  could  not 
wash  off,  fell,  and  the  reform  took  place  and  the  foundation  of  democratic 
government  in  England  was  laid. 

And  when  a  little  German  princeling  called  William  of  Orange  crowded 
James  II,  who  was  also,  as  you  remember,  ruling  by  divine  right,  out  of 
England  it  was  asserted  that  he  could  not  govern  England  because  he 
had  not  been  trained  and  qualified  according  to  custom,  but  he  came  with 
an  honest  purpose  to  do  right,  and  he  built  the  second  story  of  democratic 
England. 

And  when  Peel,  who  did  not  know  anything  about  the  queen's  ward- 
robe— and  according  to  all  rules  of  social  life — ought  not  to  have  attempted 
to  interfere  with  its  regulation,  told  the  queen  that  she  must  dismiss  the 
ladies  of  the  bed  chamber  or  he  would  resign  as  premier;  and  although 
many  good  people  who  believed,  as  some  of  them  still  believe,  in  the 
sanctity  of  royal  rule,  were  shocked  at  the  presumption  of  a  mere  com- 
moner undertaking  to  interfere  with  such  a  matter,  the  queen  with  her 
gracious  common  sense  yielded  to  the  demands,  and  the  roof  was  spread 
over  democratic  England;  and  democracy  has  ever  since  ruled  and  grown 
stronger  there. 

And  somehow  or  other,  all  this  was  done,  not  by  those  who  have  held 
power  and  misused  it,  but  by  those  pernicious  reformers  who,  although 
untrained  in  practical  politics  were  blessed  with  a  sense  of  right  and 
believed  in  the  right  of  the  people  to  govern  themselves  and  to  get  for 
themselves  those  blessings  which  good  government  should  give  them. 

And  they  and  the  people  got  what  was  their  right  and  they  will  get  it 
in  the  future  as  in  the  past.  Sometimes  the  thing  seems  hopeless  to 
people  who  do  not  look  at  the  past.  Sometimes  the  uplift  seems  slow. 
But  as  the  tides  of  the  ocean  follow  the  moon,  so  the  life  of  the  people 
rises  higher  and  always  higher  at  the  call  of  right  and  justice  and  truth; 
and  it  will  continue  to  do  so  forever. 

You  and  I  will  go  away.  Today  the  reformer  may  fail  in  what  he  seeks 
to  accomplish,  but  the  warfare  of  the  people  for  right  and  truth  and 
justice  always  has  been  won  in  the  end  and  always  will  be. 

Now,  pardon  me  a  moment.  Mr.  Jones  handed  me  this  poem;  I  don't 
know  who  the  author  is,  but  he  tells  me  it  was  written  and  read  at  one 
of  the  banquets  of  the  Sons  of  the  Revolution,  and  he  asked  me  to  read 
it  to  you,  and  it  is  so  appropriate  that  I  am  going  to  ask  your  attention. 

"Men  of  thought,  be  up  and  stirring,  night  and  day! 
Sow  the  seed;  withdraw  the  curtain.   Clear  the  way! 
Men  of  action,  aid  and  cheer  them  as  you  may! 
There  is  a  fount  about  to  stream;  there  is  a  light  about  to  beam; 
There  is  a  warmth  about  to  glow;  there  is  a  flower  about  to  blow; 
There  is  a  midnight  darkness  changing  into  gray. 
Men  of  thought  and  men  of  action  clear  the  way! 


A.  LEO  WEIL 


447 


Once  the  welcome  light  has  broken,  who  shall  say  the  unimagined 
glory  of  today. 

What  of  evil  perish  in  its  ray.    Aid  its  dawning,  tongue  and  pen 

Aid  it,  hope  of  honest  men.    Aid  it  paper;  aid  it  type! 

Aid  it  for  the  hour  is  ripe  and  our  earnest  must  not  slacken  into  play! 

Men  of  thought,  men  of  action,  clear  the  way! 

Lo,  a  cloud  is  about  to  banish  from  the  day, 

And  the  right's  about  to  conquer.    Clear  the  way! 

And  arise  to  crumble  into  clay  with  that  light  shall  many  men  enter 

smiling  at  the  door  with  that  many  other  great  and  small 
That  for  ages  long  have  held  us,  for  their  prey. 
Men  of  thought,  men  of  action  clear  the  way. " 

[Applause.] 

We  must  not  expect  things  too  quickly.  Always  there  must  be  the 
seedtime;  always  there  must  be  the  time  of  cultivation  before  the  crop 
is  ready  for  the  bam.  Always  before  the  flower,  is  the  planting  of  the 
seed.  As  some  one  has  well  said  "First  the  word,  before  it  blossoms 
into  the  deathless  deed."  And  so  it  will  be.  You  and  I  may  be  but 
the  seed.  It  may  be  for  others  to  gather  the  harvest;  but  the  harvest 
will  in  the  end  be  the  uplift  of  humanity — the  building  up  of  a  noble, 
honest  manhood  and  womanhood  that  will  glorify  this  nation.  And 
to  that  work  we  of  the  cities  of  this  country  must  give  the  best  we  have 
within  us,  for  upon  us  rests  the  responsibility. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  now  have  the  pleasure  of  introducing  the  toast- 
master  of  the  evening,  an  able  lawyer  and  one  who  has  been  earnest  and 
faithful  in  the  work  of  reform  in  this  city,  one  who  has  done  much  and  to 
whom  we  all  owe  much,  A.  Leo  Weil,  Esq.  [Applause.] 

Mr.  a.  Leo  Weil:  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  The  toastmaster  is  supposed 
to  be  simply  a  punctuation  mark,  a  dash,  if  you  will,  connecting  the 
audience  with  the  speakers,  and  if  the  toastmaster  consumes  too  much 
time  he  is  likely  to  be  represented  in  the  minds  of  the  audience  by  a  double 
dash.    [Laughter  and  applause.] 

This  is  the  age  of  rule.    We  look  for  an  immutable  rule  in  all  things. 
We  seek  to  solve  and  settle  even  civilization's  progress  by  rule.    And  yet 
we  know  that  every  nation  and  every  age  has  had 
The  Age  its  own  peculiar  changes,  referable  to  no  fixed  rule, 

of  Rule  but  to  its  own  impulses  and  conditions. 

As  has  been  well  said: 

"One  after  the  other  the  great  and  influential  races  have  appeared  on 
the  theater  of  the  world,  manifested  each  its  own  peculiar  and  inscrutable 
impulse,  pursued  its  own  distinctive  ideal,  struggled  for  its  own  form  of 
dominion,  marked  the  course  of  human  destiny  with  the  seal  of  its  special 
trait,  and  passed  through  contact  into  new  forms  or  disappeared  from 
view.    The  permanent  impressions  left  by  races  passed  away  are  styled 


448 


DINNER  SPEECHES 


by  the  philosophers  truth;  the  aspiration  of  the  Uving,  and  mihtant  race, 
is  styled  progress." 

If  this  aspiration  which  we  style  progress,  is  in  reality  progress,  then  so 
long  as  such  aspirations  continue,  the  nation  will  continue.  This  aspira- 
tion does  not  spring  full  armed  into  being.  It  is  the  concensus  of  the 
morality  and  the  intelligence  of  the  people.  Usually  it  has  its  three  ages, 
first,  the  theoretical  or  ideal;  second,  the  sentimental  or  emotional,  and, 
third,  the  practical  or  universal.  It  begins  with  a  few,  converts  more 
and  more  until  finally  it  is  accepted,  as  of  course,  by  all. 

After  an  era  of  extraordinary  urban  growth  it  became  more  and  more 
manifest  that  the  aspirations  and  ideals  of  our  city  administrations  were 
becoming  lower  and  lower,  tainting  and  affecting  our  whole  body  politic. 

There  were  gathered  together  in  our  cities  ever  increasingly  larger  num- 
bers of  individuals,  of  different  peoples,  with  their  varying  racial  impulses, 
so  affected  by  materialistic  influences  that  moral  and  ethical  considera- 
tions were  for  the  time  being  submerged,  and  from  this  there  arose  "the 
problem  of  the  city,"  a  problem  which  alarmed  the  thoughtful  and  the 
patriotic. 

The  dominant  aspiration  of  these  urban  aggregations  which  was  fast 
becoming  the  dominant  aspiration  of  the  whole  people,  in  city,  county, 
state  and  nation,  must  be  changed  if  it  was  to  bear  the  name  of  progress, 
and  the  nation  was  to  continue. 

Men  with  consciences  keen  and  natures  quick  to  observe  evil  and  to 
resent  wrong,  gathered  to  consider  these  conditions  and  they  organized 
the  National  Municipal  League.  They  were  earnest. 
The  National  intellectual  men.  The  prevailing  key  of  their  deliber- 
Municipal  ations  was  minor,  the  motif  despair.    But  they  per- 

League  severed.    Some  time  after  the  American  Civic  Associ- 

ation was  organized  and  was  to  municipal  living 
conditions  what  the  National  Municipal  League  was  to  municipal  polit- 
ical conditions.  The  League  sought  to  improve  the  laws  and  the  adminis- 
tration, the  Association  to  improve  the  living  conditions.  Unmindful 
alike  of  sneer  and  vituperation,  surviving  even  the  deadly  complacency 
of  the  well-meaning  but  apathetic,  these  brave,  true  men,  though  at 
times  it  seemed  as  if  they  were  only  singing  in  the  wilderness,  persevered 
in  their  self-appointed  task  until  today  we  may  say  they  have  passed 
through  the  theoretical  and  the  ideal,  and  the  sentimental  and  emotional 
stages,  and  are  entering  upon  the  practical  and  universal  stage.  Does 
not  this  convention  just  closing  show  this? 

Those  who  have  followed  the  proceedings,  and  particularly  those  who 
have  had  the  pleasure  of  listening  to  that  wonderful  r€sum6  of  "American 
Municipal  Tendencies"  by  the  able  and  energetic  Secretary,  the  Honor- 
able Clinton  Rogers  Woodruff,  must  have  been  impressed  with  the  aggre- 
gate of  accomplishment. 

The  work  of  the  League  and  of  the  Association  should  not  be  measured 


A.  LEO  WEIL 


449 


so  much  by  concrete  examples,  though  many  could  be  given,  such  as  the 
influence  of  its  municipal  program  in  the  charter  of  cities  and  the  consti- 
tution of  states,  the  fact  that  over  ninety  cities  now  report  in  accordance 
with  the  uniform  system  of  accounting  recommended  by  the  League,  the 
improvement  in  city  living  conditions,  brought  about  by  the  Civic  Asso- 
ciation, and  other  specific  advances,  the  mere  enumeration  whereof  would 
be  beyond  the  limits  of  my  time. 

The  main,  the  great  work  of  both  the  Municipal  League  and  the 
Civic  Association  has  been  not  only  the  coordination  of  all  societies  and 
associations  working  for  municipal  betterment,  but  the 
Coordination  coordination  of  individuals,  as  well,  and  the  creation 
and  stimulation  in  all  such  of  high  municipal  ideals. 

Few  are  they  today  who  do  not  concede  without  argument  the  prin- 
ciples for  which  these  organizations  stand  and  recognize  the  necessity 
and  advantages  of  the  movements  and  improvements  they  urge.  So 
general  has  this  sentiment  become,  that  we  may,  without  being  charged 
with  unreasonable  optimism,  claim  that  they  have  reached  the  universal 
age  of  the  movement,  the  practical  age.  If  this  be  true,  then  misgovem- 
ment  is  doomed.  No  force  or  forces  of  evil  can  long  stand  before  an 
awakened  and  aroused  public  conscience,  an  universal  public  sentiment, 
demanding  men  of  ability  and  integrity  in  municipal  office  adminis- 
tering the  city's  affairs  for  the  city's  good. 

Every  great  moral  movement  has  had  its  three  ages.  History  shows 
this.  No  such  movement  can  possibly  fail  after  it  has  passed  from  the 
ideal  through  the  emotional  into  the  universal  and  practical  age.  To 
endure  so  long,  it  must  represent  a  great  moral  truth,  and  a  great  moral 
truth  cannot  die. 

It  is  our  duty,  and  it  ought  to  be  our  pleasure,  as  it  is  our  privilege,  to 
speed  these  movements  to  their  universal  acceptance  and  adoption,  push- 
ing aside  parties,  persons  and  practices  that  stand  in  their  way. 

I  had  noted  a  great  deal  more  to  which  I  desired  to  call  your  attention 
with  reference  to  this  organization,  but  my  friend  has  placed  in  front  of 
me  his  watch,  which  he  informed  me  was  a  time  watch  and  that  it  would 
ring  off  at  a  certain  moment,  and  I  don't  want  to  hear  that  ring.  am 
therefore  going  to  cut  out  all  of  the  pretty  things  that  I  had  prepared  to 
say.  The  toastmaster  at  any  rate  is  the  only  one  who  can  talk  as  long 
as  he  pleases.  If  I  talk  any  longer  I  shall  even  violate  that.  However, 
when  the  eagle  is  about  lesser  birds  should  keep  quiet. 

And  we  have  with  us  tonight  those  to  whom  you  will  no  doubt  listen 
with  great  pleasure. 

We  need  in  this  country  above  all  things  men  of  means,  men  of  position, 
men  whose  patriotism  induces  them  to  accept  office  and  to  perform 
their  duties  for  their  love  of  country  and  their  love  of  work.  The  first 
speaker  of  the  evening  is  such  a  man.    He  has  devoted  years  and  years 


45° 


DINNER  SPEECHES 


to  a  subject  from  which  all  of  you  and  all  of  us  will  reap  the  benefits 
for  years  and  generations  to  come.    As  the  head  of 
The  Need  forestry  bureau  he  has  accomplished  great  things, 

for  Men  of  proposes  to  accomplish  still  greater  with  the  assist- 

ance and  the  following  that  his  magnificent  abilities 
Patriotism  have  secured  in  this  direction.     [Applause.]     He  is 

going  to  talk  to  you  on  the  subject  of  conservation  and 
common  sense.  Naturally  you  would  inquire  "Is  there  any  necessity  for 
anybody  talking  on  this  subject  of  conservation  and  common  sense.  We  all 
know  about  that."  But  some  of  us  have  found,  especially  in  our  cities 
within  the  last  few  months  that  even  a  subject  so  well  and  frequently  dis- 
cussed as  the  ten  commandments  is  sometimes  forgotten.  This  gentleman 
represents  in  every  way  the  American  Civic  Association  whose  spokesman 
he  is  tonight.  He  is  the  very  apotheosis  of  their  work,  the  incarnation  of 
what  they  are  doing  for  the  beautifying,  the  preservation  and  the  perfec- 
tion of  our  cities.  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  have  the  greatest  pleasure  in 
introducing  to  you  Hon.  GifTord  Pinchot,  chairman  of  the  National  Con- 
servation Commission  of  our  federal  government.  [Applause.] 

Hon.  Gifford  Pinchot:  Ladies  and  GetUletnen:  I  think  I  violate  no 
confidence  when  I  tell  you  that  most  of  what  your  Loastmaster  has  been 
good  enough  to  say  about  me  is  not  so.  I  appreciate  it  deeply  neverthe- 
less, and  I  owe  him  a  grudge  because,  if  I  may  aspire  to  any  title,  I  should 
like  to  be  known  as  the  most  hopeful  of  Americans,  and  I  cannot  have  that 
title  while  he  is  in  the  room.  [Laughter.] 

I  believe  in  this  great  country  of  ours.  Every  time  I  cross  the  conti- 
nent— and  my  work  calls  me  to  cross  it  many  times  a  year — I  am  impressed 
anew  with  the  tremendous  vigor  of  our  people,  their  marvelous  effective- 
ness, and  above  all  with  the  prodigious  quantity  of  well-being  that  is 
found  within  our  borders,  with  the  many  happy  and  prosperous  people, 
good  homes,  clean  villages,  fairly  good  cities  and  all  the  things  of  which 
we,  more  than  any  other  nation  on  the  earth,  have  a  right  to  be  proud. 
I  would  give  little  for  an  American  who  was  not  proud  of  his  country,  and 
I  would  give  very  little  indeed  for  the  perceptive  power  of  a  man  who 
could  not  see  that  this  is  a  country  to  be  proud  of. 

With  all  possible  emphasis  laid  on  that  side  of  the  picture,  and  with  the 
understanding  that  the  right  American  point  of  view  is  the  hopeful  view, 
and  that  we  shall  somehow  secure  and  realize  our  future,  there  still  remain 
certain  fundamental  things  for  us  to  think  about  and  to  accomplish  in 
the  way  of  assuring  the  proper  development  of  this  country.  We  have 
not  been  as  wise  in  some  things  as  we  have  in  others. 

The  ladies  who  have  been  good  enough  to  grace  this  occasion  with  their 
presence  will  forgive  me  perhaps  if  I  allow  an  illustration  which  has  passed 
through  my  mind  to  pass  through  my  lips.  One  of  the  most  charming 
and  attractive  of  her  sex  once  upon  a  time  got  married,  as  some  of  them 
have  a  habit  of  doing — not  a  confirmed  habit,  I  hasten  to  add.    After  the 


HON.  GIFFORD  PINCHOT 


451 


honeymoon  was  over  and  serious  housekeeping  had  begun  the  husband 
came  back  one  day  evidently  with  something  on  his  mind  and  evidently, 
too,  a  little  doubtful  about  mentioning  it.  Finally,  after  dinner  he  sum- 
moned up  courage  and  said  to  her  "My  dear,  the  cashier  of  the  bank  has 
told  me  today  that  your  account  is  overdrawn.  I  am  exceedingly  sorry 
about  that;  you  know  it  is  something  that  ought  not  to  happen."  His 
wife  looked  puzzled  for  a  moment,  shook  her  head  violently,  left  the  room 
and  came  back  in  a  minute  flourishing  a  check  book.  Said  she :  ' '  What 
that  horrid  cashier  said  is  not  true.  Nearly  half  of  the  checks  in  my  book 
are  still  left. "  [Laughter.] 

Now  Miss  Columbia,  who  takes  care  of  us  all,  has  done  just  exactly 
that  same  thing.  Her  account  is  badly  overdrawn  and  it  has  not  been 
balanced  for  a  long  time — never,  in  fact,  since  this  land  of  ours  was  first 
deposited. 

The  National  Conservation  Commission  has  undertaken  to  find  out 
what  our  balance  is  in  the  great  national  resources  of  the  country,  how 
much  coal  we  have,  how  much  iron,  how  much  water, 
The  National  whether  our  soils  are  increasing  or  decreasing  in  fer- 
Conservation  tility;  what  the  loss  from  fire  is;  what  the  avoidable 
Comniissioil  ^  money,  and  in  lives  from  preventable  diseases. 

We  are  trying  to  find  out  exactly  what  is  the  balance  in 
bank  of  the  United  States  of  America.  In  pursuance  of  that  task  we  have 
come  across  enormous  waste.  We  find  bad  housekeeping  on  the  part  of 
Miss  Columbia  to  a  very  reprehensible  degree.  We  find  that  this  good 
country  of  ours  has  been  allowing  $50,000,000  worth  of  timber  to  bum  up 
every  year  for  the  last  thirty  years;  and  about  as  much  coal  has  been  left 
in  the  mines  forever  inaccessible  as  ever  has  been  taken  out;  that  perhaps 
the  largest  tax  that  is  paid  anywhere  in  the  country  is  the  tax  that  the  farmer 
pays  for  the  loss  of  fertility  to  his  soil  by  erosion;  that  the  flood  loss 
runs  from  fifty  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  million  dollars  a  year;  that  the 
cost  to  the  country  of  preventable  diseases  runs  annually  into  many  hun- 
dreds of  millions;  and  that  here,  there,  and  everjnvhere  is  prodigious  and 
unjustified  waste.  And  all  this  time  we  have  been  drawing  check  after 
check  against  a  balance  that  we  did  not  know  the  amount  of,  but  concern- 
ing which  the  only  thing  we  did  know  was  that  it  was  a  limited  balance. 
We  use,  for  example,  three  times  as  much  timber  as  is  grown.  Point  by 
point  we  have  passed  through  the  usual  course  of  a  new  nation,  feeling 
that  our  resources  were  inexhaustible  and  that  whatever  we  did  there 
would  always  be  plenty  left  for  those  who  came  afterwards.  Now  a  course 
like  that  cannot  go  on  indefinitely.  There  must  come  an  end  to  it  some- 
time. 

We  are  about  to  undertake  now,  on  the  basis  of  the  progress  already 
made,  the  most  gigantic  development  that  any  race  has  approached  in  all 
the  historj-  of  the  world.  We  have  the  promise  of  a  future  greater  than 
anyone  can  describe,  undoubtedly  far  greater  than  anyone  can  even 
magine,  and  we  have  the  key  to  that  future  in  our  hands  now.    We  can- 


452 


DINNER  SPEECHES 


discount  the  future,  exhaust  our  balance,  and  destroy  the  prosperity  of 
those  who  are  coming  after  us,  or  we  can  take  the  common-sense  point  of 
view  and  prepare  as  a  nation  for  the  future  exactly  as  anyone  of  us  would, 
the  head  of  a  family,  for  the  things  that  we  know  are  coming. 

The  central  idea  of  conservation  is  foresight.  The  central  quality  of 
a  good  business  man  is  foresight.  The  central  quality  of  a  man  worthy 
to  be  called  a  statesman  is  foresight.  And  the  time 
Foresight  is  very  close  at  hand  when  the  essential  quality  of  any 

Demanded  great  nation  will  be  foresight.     It  has  not  come  yet, 

but  it  is  coming  soon. 

Now  the  principle  of  the  conservation  of  our  natural  resources,  this  fore- 
sight principle,  may  be  translated  into  another  form  of  words,  for  it  applies 
not  merely  to  our  natural  resources  but  to  all  the  work  of  the  American 
Civic  Association  and  the  National  Municipal  League  and  all  other  sim- 
ilar associations  that  are  conferring  so  great  a  benefit  on  this  country. 
The  spirit  of  conservation  is  the  use  of  common  sense  for  the  common 
good.  It  is  the  application  of  the  ordinary  every-day  virtues  which  pro- 
tect us  in  private  life  to  the  great  problems  which  confront  national  life. 
Like  all  great  conceptions,  it  is  essentially  simple  and  essentially  obvious. 
By  and  by  the  only  thing  that  we  shall  be  surprised  about  concerning  it  is 
that  it  was  not  applied  long  before. 

We  have  been  handling  some  very  big  problems  in  this  country,  and  we 
have  been  handling  them  with  marvelous  success. 

They  are  big,  and  they  look  big  to  us  now.  But  the  accomplishments 
to  which  we  are  verging  will  make  them  look  exceedingly  small.  The 
Panama  Canal  will  do  a  great  deal  for  this  country.  It  ought  to  do  a 
tremendous  deal  for  Pittsburgh,  but  the  benefits  which  the  Panama  Canal 
will  confer  on  the  United  States  will  literally  sink  into  insignificance  as 
compared  with  the  benefits  which  may  be  conferred  by  a  wise  system  of  in- 
land waterway  development.  [Applause.]  When  you  have  a  nine-foot 
stage  from  here  to  New  Orleans  it  will  open  to  you  the  markets  of  the 
world  in  a  degree  that  will  far  surpass  anything  that  the  Panama  Canal 
can  do  for  you.  [Applause.] 

The  reclamation  of  the  arid  lands  in  the  West  has  been  a  great  thing  for 
this  country,  it  is  destined  to  confer  still  vaster  benefits  upon  us.  But 
the  reclamation  of  all  the  arid  land  will  be  a  small  thing  compared  to  the 
benefits  that  will  follow  when  we  get  the  conception,  and  act  upon  it, 
that  the  water  powers  of  the  United  States  are  for  the  benefit  of  all  the 
people  and  that  they  must  all  be  developed  for  the  use  and  profit  of  us 
all.  [Applause.] 

When  the  Mayor  spoke  a  little  while  ago  about  Daniel  I  could  not  help 
thinking  of  what  was  said  by  a  little  tot,  who  had  been  taught  to  be  kind 
to  animals,  when  the  story  was  related  to  her.  She  was  discovered  wiping 
her  eyes  and  when  she  was  asked  what  she  was  crying  about  she  said: 
"Those  poor  lions  didn't  get  to  eat  any  of  Daniel."  [Laughter.]  Now  a 
great  many  towns  and  a  great  many  regions  in  this  country  have  been  fed 


HON.  GIFFORD  PINCHOT 


453 


to  the  lions  of  public  service  corporations.  [Applause.]  My  judgment  is 
that  these  Daniels  were  too  good  for  lion's  meat,  which  is  what  they  were 
used  for,  and  that  hereafter  we  shall  come  to  the  conception  that  the  object 
of  a  public  service  corporation  is  public  service,  and  not  merely  the  pecu- 
niary advantage  of  the  men  who  got  it  up.  [Applause.]  And  we  shall  come 
to  understand  that  the  water  powers  of  the  United  States  belong  to  the 

people  of  the  United  States,  and  that  the  great  trusts 
The  Water  which  are  now  forming  to  take  posession  of  this  greatest 

Powers  of  of  3-11  sources  of  power  must  not  be  allowed  to  become  an 

America  uncontrolled  monopoly,  but  that  the  prinicpal  benefit 

must  go  to  the  people,  who  are  the  owners  of  the  prop- 
erty, and  not  to  men  whose  only  interest  is  to  exploit  people  and  prop- 
erty alike.  There  is  no  other  possible  trust  that  will  compare  in  oppres- 
iveness,  in  control  of  the  life  of  the  ordinary  man,  with  the  water  power 
trust.  That  trust  is  now  being  consolidated,  and  one  of  the  two  or  three 
greatest  fights  now  before  the  administration  of  President  Roosevelt  is  to 
prevent  the  grants  of  water  power  to  private  corporations  being  made 
in  such  a  way  as  to  remove  those  corporations  from  the  possibility  of  pub- 
lic control.  [Applause.]  The  President  will  win  that  fight,  as  he  has  the 
habit  of  winning  a  good  many  other  fights,  and  I  suspect  that  his  opponents 
once  more  will  be  beaten  to  a  frazzle.  [Applause.] 

Why  is  it  that  the  common-sense  point  of  view  does  not  obtain  in  these 
matters?  Why  is  it  that  so  many  men  are  affrighted  by  the  proposition 
that  we  should  develop  our  waterways,  that  we  should  take  control  of 
our  water  power,  that  we  should  use  common-sense  for  the  common  good 
in  all  these  things?  It  seems  to  me,  as  I  trust  it  seems  to  you,  a  perfectly 
simple  proposition.  What  is  a  good  business  proposition  if  viewed  from 
the  light  of  a  private  individual,  may  also  be  a  good  proposition  if  viewed 
from  the  light  of  the  nation.  The  nation  itself  has  as  much  right  to  make 
a  good  investment  in  waterways  as  a  private  company  would  have  to  make 
a  good  investment  in  a  canal.  [Applause.] 

But  there  seems  to  be  an  obstacle.  A  friend  of  mine  was  traveling  in  a 
sleeping  car  one  night  and  an  Irish  nurse  occupying  an  upper  berth  began 
about  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  to  exclaim  at  intervals  of  four  or  five 
seconds,  "Oh,  Lord,  but  I'm  dry!  Oh,  Lord,  but  I'm  dry!"  My  friend 
having  found  it  utterly  impossible  to  sleep,  went  to  the  end  of  the  car  and 
got  her  a  glass  of  water.  He  was  just  dropping  off  when  he  heard  "Oh, 
Lord,  but  I  was  dry!  Oh,  Lord,  but  I  was  dry!  "  Now  there  is  a  type  of  mind 
which  refuses  to  accept  a  change  in  circumstances.  [Laughter.]  Because 
we  never  have  had  waterway  development  is  a  good  reason  to  that  type 
of  mind  why  we  should  never  have  it.  Because  we  have  never  had  an 
Applachian  National  Forest  is  a  good  reason  why  we  never  should  have 
one.  I  take  it  that  eventually  the  common-sense  of  the  American  people 
will  adjust  these  matters  and  that  because  a  plan  is  big,  because  it  will 
pay,  even  though  it  will  cost  something  to  carry  it  out,  and  because  its 
benefits  in  the  end  will  be  tremendous,  will  be  accepted  as  good  reasons 


454 


DINNER  SPEECHES 


for  doing  it  and  not  good  reasons  for  doing  nothing.  We  are  coming 
after  a  while  to  this  conception,  that  it  is  a  fair  thing  for  the  people  of  a 
country  like  ours,  consciously  and  purposefully  to  seek  for  national 
efficiency,  municipal  efficiency,-  state  efficiency,  efficiency  in  every  single 
one  of  the  relations  of  life,  that  we  may  fairly  as  a  nation  take  account  of 
waste  and  stop  it,  that  we  may  see  a  benefit  and  grasp  it;  in  a  word,  that 
we  may  apply  ordinary  Anglo-Saxon  common-sense  for  the  good  of  us  all 
and  when  that  comes  we  shall  march  forward  under  the  banner  of  com- 
mon-sense to  a  degree  of  national  efficiency  that  will  be  a  new  thing  in  the 
world.    I  thank  you.  [Applause.] 

The  Toastm aster  :  I  have  transposed  the  second  and  the  third  speeches 
and  the  gentleman  whom  I  am  about  to  introduce  is  a  lawyer.  He  has 
been  counsel  and  adviser  to  a  great  many  committees  of  a  great  many 
organizations  having  to  do  with  municipal  work  and  municipal  reform. 
In  fact  he  is  a  gentleman  who  not  only  gives  advice  but  also  does  things. 
But  on  the  subject  of  his  advice  it  was  said  of  him  that  he  once  had  an 
office  boy  who  meeting  another  office  boy  was  inquired  of  by  him  how 

much  he  got  and  he  said  "  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year." 
An  Active  "What,  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year?"    "Yes"  he 

Reformer  said  "ten  thousand  dollars  a  year?"    "Go  along  with 

you."  "Well"  he  says,  "I  only  get  four  dollars  a 
week  in  money  but  I  get  the  balance  in  legal  advice."  [Laughter.] 
Now,  if  you  knew  the  long  list  of  committees  and  so  forth  on  which  this 
gentleman  has  served  you  will  understand  that.  Beginning  with  the 
organization  in  1881  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  of  "  The  Brooklyn  Young  Republi- 
can Club"  which  was  the  first  political  organization  active  in  political 
campaigns,  partisan  in  national  politics  and  independent  in  municipal 
politics  he  has  been  founder  and  a  member  of  numerous  other  clubs  and 
associations  for  civic  betterment  and  has  always  been  on  the  fighting 
committees. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  New  York  Civil 
Service  Association  and  one  of  the  Council  of  the  National  Civil  Service 
Reform  League;  he  was  counsel  to  the  committee  of  the  New  York  State 
Senate  that  investigated  the  administration  of  the  civil  service  law  of 
that  state.  It  was  largely  the  investigation  made  by  that  committee 
that  brought  about  the  adoption  of  the  civil  service  provision  in  the 
constitution  of  the  State  of  New  York  and  it  was  the  civil  service  law 
drafted  by  that  committee  which  became  the  basis  of  the  present  civil 
service  law  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  National  Municipal  League,  and  he 
was  chairman  of  that  special  committee  which  reported  the  municipal 
program  which  has  been  used  by  every  constitutional  and  charter  con- 
vention since.  He  has  done  all  these  things  and  he  has  done  more,  and 
he  is  therefore  qualified  to  speak  to  you  upon  the  subject  assigned  him. 
But  not  only  has  he  been  one  who  has  given  advice  but  he  has  always 


HORACE  E.  DEMING 


455 


gone  out  and  helped  to  do  the  work.  He  is  like  the  wife  of  a  man  who 
when  her  husband  telegraphed  her  "If  I  don't  get  home  tonight  to  go 
to  the  party  don't  wait  for  me"  she  telegraphed  "I  will  not  wait  for  you 
I  will  come  for  you."  [Laughter.]  That  is  the  type  of  man  who  will 
i^ow  address  you  on  the  subject.  Some  Causes  of  Bad  City  Government 
and  Their  Remedies.    [Applause.]    Mr.  Deming. 

Mr.  Deming:  Mr.  Chairman:  If  Daniel  of  old  carried  with  him  into  tha 
den  the  long  string  of  credentials  you  have  given  this  audience  of  me  I 
don't  wonder  the  lions  did  not  make  a  meal  of  him.  He  must  have 
seemed  a  pretty  tough  morsel.  [Laughter.] 

I  did  not  know  that  my  office  boy  had  such  a  keen  appreciation  of  his 
advantages.  I  shall  certainly  give  him  some  further  advice  when  I  go 
home.  [Laughter.] 

Every  speaker  who  has  preceded  me  has  seemed  to  wish  to  present 
himself  as  an  optimist.  Optimism  seems  to  be  pretty  popular  in  Pitts- 
burgh since  the  visit  of  this  association  and  since  the  investigation  of 
the  Pittsburgh  Survey.  I  suppose  it  is  a  sort  of  reaction,  a  desire  to 
enjoy  one's  self  under  difficulties.  [Laughter.]  I  have  been  that  kind 
of  an  optimist  very  often  when  I  have  been  considering  some  of  the  ills 
from  which  the  body  politic  suffers. 

If,  to  be  an  optimist  it  is  necessary  to  believe  that  this  is  the  best  of 
all  possible  worlds,  then  I  am  no  optimist.  But  I  do  believe  that  this 
is  going  to  be  the  best  world  possible,  and  I  think  we 
Optimism  ought  to  help  to  make  it  so.    I  have  never  been  able 

to  understand  why  one  should  take  much  credit  to 
himself  for  financial  ability  because  somebody  else  struck  oil  on  his  farm. 
[Laughter.]  I  have  never  quite  understood  why  the  various  political 
parties  and  the  various  political  speakers  and  the  various  other  speakers 
in  this  country  have  assumed  so  much  credit  for  the  country's  prosperity 
when  as  a  matter  of  fact  we  have  been  exploiting  the  oil  that  Providence 
put  on  our  farm,  and  we  have  not  put  one  single  bucket  of  oil  into  it.  I 
think  it  is  time  both  in  a  business  and  economic  sense  and  in  a  social  and 
moral  sense,  that  we  awakened  to  the  fact  that  we  have  been  given  by 
God  Almighty  the  biggest  opportunity  to  be  the  best  and  happiest  people 
and  to  be  the  best  governed  people  in  the  world,  and  that  we  ought  to 
stop  talking  boastfully  about  how  much  money  we  make  out  of  the  ore  or 
coal  or  iron  or  forests  or  precious  metals  or  the  fertile  soil  with  which 
not  our  own  efforts  but  Providence  has  blessed  us  and  to  begin  to  use 
these  blessings  in  a  manner  worthy  of  men  that  were  made  in  the  image 
of  God.  [Applause.] 

That  was  a  fine  saying  of  my  predecessor, — "common- sense  for  the 
common  good. "  It  sets  up  a  standard  for  the  action  of  every  civic  body, 
for  the  civic  work  of  every  individual.  I  am  going  to  ask  you  to  apply  a 
little  of  it,  common-sense,  I  mean — at  least  so  much  of  it  as  there  happens 


4S6 


DINNER  SPEECHES 


to  be  present  here  tonight  [laughter]  to  the  consideration  of  the  topic 
assigned  me. 

Civil  government  is  not  a  divine  institution.  There  is  not  a  tinge  of 
the  divine  element  in  government.  There  is  absolutely  no  particular 
reason  why  we  should  be  reverential  in  our  attitude  towards  govem- 
ment.  It  is  a  human  contrivance  gotten  up  by  human 
IjOVernment  beings,  managed  by  human  beings — presumably  for  the 
a  Human  common  good;  and  its  methods  are  the  methods  that 

Institution  human  beings  from  time  to  time  adopt.  Government 

is  just  as  much  a  human  institution  as  a  steel  mill. 
I  never  knew  a  successful  steel  man  who  hesitated  to  scrap  any  machinery 
that  would  not  work  efficiently  or  who  hesitated  to  replace  any  old  method 
by  a  new  one  if  the  new  one  was  better;  or  who  thought  that  it  was  any 
indication  of  the  common-sense  and  foresight  of  a  rival  to  keep  on  using 
poor  machinery;  or  who  respected  the  prudence  and  foresight  of  anyone 
who  inherited  a  business  from  his  father  or  grandfather  and  out  of  rever- 
ence for  his  father's  or  grandfather's  memory  went  on  in  the  same  good  old 
way  until  the  business  disappeared.  [Laughter.]  Yet  that  is  just  the 
kind  of  way  in  which  our  city  governments  have  been  run.  It  was  a 
bad  old  way,  to  quote  the  words  of  the  chairman. — and  I  am  always  glad 
to  quote  his  words — it  was  a  dashed,  dashed  bad  old  way. 

I  suppose  that  invective  is  necessary  sometimes,  and  I  suppose  that  it 
does  good  sometimes  to  stir  up  the  muck,  but  it  has  seemed  to  the  National 
Municipal  League  that  invective  should  be  an  evidence  of  its  users  dis- 
cernment rather  than  of  his  enjoyment  in  using  a  vituperative  vocabulary. 
[Laughter.]  The  National  Municipal  League  was  organized  to  do  con- 
structive work,  not  to  depict,  however  eloquently,  the  evils  of  bad  city 
government.  Oh,  it  is  so  easy  to  do  that,  and  the  temptation  is  so  great 
if  you  live  in  a  city,  and  especially  when  you  get  away  from  your  own 
city  and  have  a  chance  at  another.  [Laughter.]  What  a  beautiful 
picture  in  dark  colors — that  is  natural  of  Pittsburgh — one  could  make 
of  this  prosperous  city  of  yours  if  one  wanted  to  do  it.  [Laughter.] 

The  National  Municipal  League  conducted  an  investigation  at  first 
hand  in  all  the  leading  cities  of  this  country.  It  did  not  send  out  questions 
to  the  mayor  and  other  city  officials  and  ask  their  opinions  of  their  own 
town.  It  did  not  send  out  questions  to  the  controller  and  ask  the  con- 
dition of  the  city's  finances.  It  picked  out  well  informed  persons  living 
in  these  cities  and  asked  them  to  make  reports  on  certain  matters.  When 
it  got  those  reports  it  put  them  all  together  and  arranged  the  answers  in 
comparable  form  and  certain  facts  stood  out  so  clearly  that  those  whose 
business  it  was  to  study  these  reports  were  simply  amazed  to  find  that  the 
fundamental  causes  of  bad  city  government  were  the  same  everj'where; 
and  that  not  the  slightest  praise  was  deserved  for  the  display  of  any  intel- 
lectual capacity  in  discovering  them.  It  would  have  been  such  a  com- 
fort to  one's  intellectual  vanity  to  find  that  the  causes  of  our  municipal 


HORACE  E.  DEMING 


457 


ills  were  obscure.  Some  physicians  understand  that  element  in  human 
nature  and  do  not  deprive  a  patient  of  the  consolation  of  thinking  that 
his  ailment  is  something  quite  peculiar.  [Laughter.]  Well  there  is  noth- 
ing peculiar  about  the  main  causes  of  our  municipal  ailments.  They  are 
absolutely  plain  and  simple  and  so  are  the  remedies. 

The  first  cause  of  the  misrule  of  our  cities  is  that  they  are  governed  not 
by  the  people  of  the  city  but  by  outsiders,  and  that  the  policy  accord- 
ing to  which  the  public  affairs  of  a  city  are  conducted 
Causes  of  is  not  determined  by  and  suited  to  the  needs  of  the 

Misrule  people  of  the  city,  but  is  determined  by  the  selfish 

interests  of  these  outsiders.  The  second  one  is  that 
nine-tenths  of  the  activities  of  a  city  government  are  absorbed  in  business 
transactions,  pure  and  simple;  that  common-sense  principles  universally 
accepted  as  essential  to  the  successful  conduct  of  business  enterprises 
demand  that  the  persons  intrusted  with  such  transactions  should  be 
selected  solely  with  reference  to  their  honesty,  ability  and  industry  and 
to  their  fidelity  to  the  interests  of  the  business;  yet  in  practically  every 
city  of  the  United  States  they  are  neither  selected  nor  retained  for  any 
such  reasons,  but  because  they  are  useful  to  and  faithful  to  the  interests 
of  the  persons  who  happen  to  control  and  can  exploit  the  city's  resources. 
A  third  fundamental  cause  of  our  municipal  ailments  is  that  the  finan- 
cial methods  and  accounts  of  our  cities  are  haphazard  and  crude.  They 
are  both  uninforming  and  misinforming.  The  report  of  a  city  controller 
instead  of  being  a  document  of  light  and  leading  is  an  example  of  dark- 
ness and  misleading. 

There  is  no  mystery,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  about  either  these  causes 
or  their  evil  results.  They  are  only  too  shamefully  plain.  And  when  I 
hear  grandiloquent  talk  about  the  wonderful  complexity  of  city  govern- 
ment and  that  you  must  expect  a  city  to  conduct  the  public  business 
inefficiently  and  that  a  good  deal  of  incidental  corruption  is  to  be  taken 
for  granted,  I  wonder  how  long  level-headed  business  men  like  those  here 
tonight  would  listen  with  patience  to  that  kind  of  talk  as  a  satisfactory 
explanation  of  a  like  situation  in  a  mill  or  a  factory.  Oh,  you  would  say, 
get  somebody  with  brains  to  handle  the  situation,  who  knows  his  job. 
[Laughter.]  It  is  not  at  all  necessary  to  fiy  off  into  the  air  in  order  to  do 
reform  work.  Quite  the  contrary,  it  is  very  steadying  to  keep  your  feet 
on  the  ground  no  matter  how  loud  you  are  shouting  or  waving  the  Amer- 
ican flag — and  if  the  ground  happens  to  be  a  city  pavement  let  us  make 
the  pavement  a  clean  one  to  walk  on.  In  other  words,  the  business  part 
of  city  government,  and  that  is  nine-tenths  of  it,  must  be  conducted 
on  the  plane  of  sound,  ordinary  common-sense  business  principles.  And 
why  shouldn't  we  put  it  there? 

We  don't  want  a  money  power  government,  we  are  not  proud  of  a 
water  supply  that  breeds  typhoid  fever,  we  really  don't  think  it  is  necessary 
that  our  children  should  be  poisoned  with  poor  milk;  we  are  not  inhuman. 
It  does  hurt  us  to  know  that  many  of  our  fellow  townsmen  live  in 


458 


DINNER  SPEECHES 


hovels;  we  are  not  proud  of  the  plague  spots  in  our  city,  and  it  is  only  a 
bluff  when  we  say  we  cannot  help  it.     We  know  better, 
The  Business      we  can  help  it,  and  we  can  help  it  by  the  simple 
Side  of  method  of  applying  a  little  common  sense  for  the  pub- 

Govemment  good.    We  cannot  stand  on  tiptoe  all  the  time  shout- 

ing or  working  for  reform,  but  we  can  give  a  little 
thought  to  it.  We  can  give  up  the  bad  habit  of  thinking  all  the  time  of  our 
private  affairs  and  of  giving  none  or  very  little  of  such  intellectual  acu- 
men or  business  ability  or  personal  influence  as  we  have  to  insisting  upon 
the  application  in  the  business  side  of  government  of  sound  common-sense 
business  principles.  That  is  all  we  need  to  do.  To  uproot  the  spoils  from 
a  city's  civil  service  or  to  install  a  decent  system  of  cityaccounts  requires 
merely  the  application  of  plain  business  common  sense.  That  is  all. 
There  is  no  politics  in  it.  There  is  no  particular  brains  required  for  it; 
just  look  the  situation  squarely  in  the  face  and  be  square  ourselves  in 
our  attitude  toward  it.    That  is  all. 

We  all  know  perfectly  well  that  so  long  as  a  city's  purely  administrative 
service  is  manned  by  employees  whose  primary  thought  is  not  the  faith- 
ful performance  of  the  work  for  which  the  city  pays  them,  and  so  long  as 
its  financial  methods  are  so  blind  and  misleading  that  it  is  impossible  to 
apply  to  the  conduct  of  the  city's  business  or  the  expenditure  of  the  city's 
money  the  reasonable  standards  of  cost  measured  in  terms  of  efficiency 
which  are  insisted  upon  as  matters  of  course  in  every  well  run  large  pri- 
vate business — we  all  know  perfectly  well  that,  so  long  as  we  permit 
these  conditions  to  exist,  inefficiency  and  extravagance,  and  very  often 
corruption  must  characterize  the  city  government. 

I  have  been  talking  of  the  business  side  of  city  government.  If  we 
put  that  upon  a  sound  common-sense  business  basis,  why  should  we  bother 
with  the  politics  of  city  government?    I  have  heard  people  say  that  city 

government  was  business  and  not  politics  at  all.  That 
Politics  is  one  of  those  nine-tenths  truths  which  leaves  plenty 

Necessary  of  venom  in  the  other  tenth  and  the  other  tenth 

poisons  the  whole.  PoUtics  are  just  as  necessary  in 
determining  the  public  policy  of  a  city  government  as  of  a  state  or  national 
government  and  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  our  municipal  ills  is  that  the 
city  is  governed  from  without  by  outsiders  not  accountable  to  the  people 
of  the  city  and  that  its  public  policy  is  determined  by  the  interests  of 
these  outsiders  instead  of  by  the  needs  and  wishes  of  the  city's  own  citi- 
zens. If  these  things  are  true,  what  is  the  harm?  And  are  they  true  as 
a  matter  of  fact  ?  Does  any  one  present  question  their  truth  ?  Are  not 
the  majority  of  the  cities  of  United  States  the  creatures  of  the  state 
legislature?  Does  not  the  state  legislature  say  what  kind  of  a  govern- 
ment your  city  shall  have?  And  if  the  legislature  does  not  like  the  sort 
of  government  you  have,  doesn't  the  legislature  change  it?    Doesn't  the 


HORACE  E.  DEMING 


459 


legislature  say  how  long  a  term  your  mayor  shall  have?  Doesn't  the 
legislature  divide  your  city  government  up  into  departments  and  does 
it  not  go  down  often  into  the  most  minute  administrative  details  even 
telling  you  sometimes  what  you  shall  pay  scrub  women  on  the  city's 
payroll?  In  New  York  not  very  long  ago  we  had  to  go  to  the  legislature 
to  fix  the  salary  of  a  bridge  tender.  [Laughter.] 

Broadly  speaking,  is  it  not  true  of  city  government  in  the  United  States, 
a  very  few  states  excepted,  that  the  legislature  establishes,  disestablishes, 
reestablishes  or  abolishes  it  in  any  or  all  of  its  parts,  whether  it  be  a 
matter  of  the  structural  form  of  the  government,  the  corporate  powers 
it  may  enjoy,  the  manner  of  their  exercise,  its  administrative  methods 
and  machinery,  the  public  officials  it  may  have,  their  duties  and  powers, 
which  of  them  shall  be  elected  and  which  appointed,  how  the  elective 
officials  shall  be  elected  and  the  appointive  officials  appointed — -but  why 
enumerate  further?  The  blunt  truth  is  that  the  government  of  each  of 
our  cities  is  a  reflection  of  the  will  of  the  state  legislature  which,  being  in- 
terpreted, means  the  will  of  the  person  or  party  that  for  the  time  being 
happens  to  control  the  legislature.  And  does  not  that  mean  that  the 
local  policy  imposed  is  one  that  suits  the  interests  of  the  person  or 
the  party  which  for  the  time  being  controls  the  state  legislature?  That 
is  the  fact.  I  don't  think  anyone  here  will  deny  it.  I  rather  doubt 
whether  any  Pennsylvanian  could  have  the  face  to  deny  it.  [Laughter.] 

Well,  what  is  the  harm  ?  Have  you  ever  heard  of  an  instance  in  history 
where  a  locality  was  governed  by  an  outside  authority  that  the  outside 
authority  did  not  become  oppressive?  Have  you  ever  heard  of  any 
locality  governed  according  to  a  policy  which  was  not  determined  by  its 
local  needs,  whose  government  was  not  a  failure?  If  you  think  any 
American  city  government  is  an  exception  to  that  unescapable  political 
law — ^well,  you  need  not  take  Pittsburgh  as  an  example,  that  may  be 
a  shining  exception,  but  look  around  at  some  of  the  other  cities.  Possibly 
you  might  come  to  New  York,  or  if  you  don't  want  to  go  so  far  stop  off 
at  Philadelphia  en  route.  [Laughter.] 

What  is  the  remedy?  The  answer  is  written  so  large  in  the  history 
of  the  English-speaking  folk  that  we  who  inherit  their  traditions  and 
value  the  dearly  won  liberties  that  have  been  handed  down  to  us  should 
hang  our  heads  with  shame,  if  we  do  not  know  and  apply  it.  All  through 
English  history  there  has  been  continual  revolt  against  government 
superimposed  from  without;  I  will  make  the  state- 
Govemment  ment  broader,  there  has  been  a  determined  endeavor 
A  i  Lt  to  make  government  more  and  more  accountable  to 

Accountable  J'  ^  ^,  ,  ^    rj.,  ^  , 

more  and  more  of  the  people  governed,  lhat  has 
to  the  People     ^een  the  fundamental  political  fight.    That  is  what 

Runnymede  meant;  that  was  what  Magna  Charta 
meant;  that  was  what  Cromwell  meant,  Mr.  Chairman.  That  is  what 
the  American  Revolution  meant.    The  American  Revolution  was  but 


460 


DINNER  SPEECHES 


one  incident  of  the  struggle  to  get  a  government  accountable  to  the 
people  governed. 

It  is  bred  in  our  Anglo-Saxon  blood  that  we  want  to  have  something 
to  say  about  the  way  we  shall  be  governed.  Why,  Great  Britain  cannot 
govern  an  English  speaking  colony  on  any  other  basis.  An  outside 
government  may  be  all  very  well  for  Egypt  and  India — though  there  is 
beginning  to  be  now  some  doubt  about  that — but  you  cannot  govern 
Canada  that  way.  You  cannot  govern  Australia  that  way.  You  cannot 
govern  New  Zealand  that  way.  Where  there  is  English  blood  and  where- 
ever  there  are  English  traditions  the  people  are  trying  to  make  the  govern- 
ment accountable  to  them,  and  if  you  want  to  find  the  fundamental 
principles  embodying  that  idea  you  won't  find  them  any  better  expressed 
nor  expressed  more  tersely  than  in  our  Declaration  of  Independence. 

Because  our  forefathers  believed  in  those  principles  and  because  a  very 
large  section  of  the  English  people  on  the  other  side  of  the  water  sym- 
pathized with  them — we  must  not  forget  that — the  colonies  won  their  in- 
dependence of  outside  mle.  From  that  time  to  this  the  two  countries  have 
pursued  their  several  ways,  but  the  dominant  political  characteristic  in 
the  development  of  both  has  been  this  fight  for  a  larger  and  larger  share 
of  self-government.  Great  Britain,  freed  from  the  fear  of  foreign  invasion 
by  the  overthrow  of  Napoleon,  blest  with  profound  internal  peace — not 
a  battle  on  British  soil  since  1685,  and  that  was  in  Ireland — was  able  to 
and  did  begin  to  think  about  her  cities  as  soon  as  they  began  really  to 
grow;  and  in  1835,  under  the  great  law  passed  that  year,  the  Municipal 
Corporation  law  of  that  year,  gave  the  English  cities  their  declaration  of 
independence.  And  she  has  been  giving  them  a  larger  and  larger  measure 
of  self-government  ever  since  until  today  the  English  city,  in  marked 
contrast  to  ours,  is  an  almost  completely  self-governing  community.  Is 
it  any  wonder  that  the  English  cities  are  in  the  main  well  governed? 
That  by  contrast  with  ours  they  are  monuments  of  successful  achieve- 
ment? In  the  United  States,  in  constant  danger  of  foreign  war  during 
the  first  period  of  its  existence  and  invaded  more  than  once,  then  torn 
by  internal  dissensions  and  threatened  with  dissolution,  devastated  by  a 
great  civil  war,  and  since  then  engrossed  in  the  most  extraordinary  develop- 
ment of  material  prosperity  ever  known,  not  much  attention  has  been 
paid  to  the  improvement  of  city  government.  Men's  thoughts  have 
been  intent  upon  something  else. 

But  don't  you  think  it  is  about  time  we  began  to  put  our  minds  on  our 
city  government?  And  if  we  do  put  our  minds  on  it,  is  there  any  better, 
is  there  any  other  remedy  for  the  bad  government  of 
Self-  our  cities  than  the  ancient  and  approved  Anglo- 

Government  Saxon  remedy?  Give  them  self-government.  [Ap- 
Essential  plause.]    I  don't  know  any  good  reason  why  Buffalo 

should  govern  New  York  nor  any  good  reason  why 
New  York  should  govern  Buffalo,  nor  why  Buffalo  and  New  York  should 


HORACE  E.  DEMING 


461 


get  together  to  see  how  they  would  both  Hke  to  be  governed.  But  in  our 
state,  for  example — and  you  do  something  of  the  same  sort  in  Pennsyl- 
vania— we  call  together  men  from  Albany  and  Buffalo  and  New  York  and 
Syracuse  and  Utica — there  is  an  insane  asylum  in  Utica — and  Elmira, 
there  is  a  reformatory  there — and  Sing  Sing,  there  is  a  prison  there — and 
Auburn,  there  is  another  prison  there — and  so  on,  through  all  the  cities 
and  we  call  in  men  from  all  the  country  districts  also,  to  decide  how 
Buffalo  shall  be  governed  and  how  every  one  of  our  cities  shall  be  governed. 
Was  there  ever  anything  more  arrantly  nonsensical?  It  is  like  a  football 
game  with  everybody  playing  in  every  direction  and  the  game  ending 
no  one  knows  where  or  how.  The  city-governing  game  never  does  end, 
in  fact.  Doesn't  such  a  method  seem — let  us  be  conservative — a  little 
ridiculous? 

Pennsylvania  is  a  great  state,  but  the  larger  part  of  its  wealth  and  popu- 
lation is  in  Pittsburgh  and  in  Philadelphia.  The  economic  interests  of 
those  cities,  the  number  of  their  inhabitants  as  well  as  the  governmental 
needs  created  by  their  community  life  lar  exceed  those  of  the  rest  of  the 
state.  The  same  is  true  of  Buffalo  and  New  York.  Yet  not  one  of 
these  cities  is  allowed  to  govern  itself.  This  is  contrary  alike  to  common 
sense  and  to  the  public  good. 

Give  our  cities  the  necessary  power  to  perform  the  proper  functions  of 
local  government.  Don't  give  to  them  a  little  power — an  inch  at  a  time 
with  a  string  tied  to  it  and  then  a  little  more  and  then  take  away  the  inch 
you  have  given  them  and  then  give  them  a  yard  and  then  take  away 
a  rod  and  so  keep  up  a  state  of  perpetual  confusion.  Give  cities  once  for 
all  sufficient  power  to  be  genuinely  self-governing  and  let  them  govern 
themselves.  American  citizens  are  as  much  entitled  to  a  free  govern- 
ment in  a  city  as  in  the  country  districts.  Give  the  city  a  simple  form  of 
government  that  its  citizens  can  understand,  center  the  responsibility 
and  provide  simple  electoral  methods  through  which  full  accountability 
to  the  people  can  be  enforced.    It  would  carry  me  far  beyond  the  limit 

of  time  assigned  me  if  I  should  discuss  with  any 
The  Importance  attempt  at  completeness  the  effect  for  good  or  ill  upon 
of  Electoral  our  free  institutions  of  the  electoral  methods  we  employ. 
Methods  simply  impossible  to  exaggerate  their  importance, 

if  we  really  wish  responsible  government,  a  govern- 
ment genuinely  accountable  to  us.  We  cannot  govern  a  city  by  mass 
meeting,  we  have  got  to  govern  through  a  few  persons  selected  for  the 
purpose.  Now  it  is  perfectly  plain  that  any  method  that  interferes  with 
our  free  selection  of  those  few  in  the  first  place  and  with  our  holding 
them  responsible  afterwards  is  a  bad  method.  It  makes  no  difference 
who  invented  the  method,  or  how  long  it  has  been  in  use,  or  whether  it 
was  originally  well  intended  or  ill  intended,  if  it  does  so  interfere  it  should 
go  to  the  scrap  heap.  It  is  plain  common  sense  that  we  cannot  enforce 
accountability  by  a  method  that  interferes  with  it.  Business  men  should 
not  hesitate  a  moment  about  discarding  it  and  substituting  a  better  one. 


462 


DINNER  SPEECHES 


The  causes  of  the  misrule  of  our  cities  are  neither  far  to  seek  nor  hard 
to  understand.  Neither  are  the  remedies.  If  we  do  not  wish  the  absurd 
business  methods  of  our  city  governments  to  continue,  if  we  are  opposed  to 
the  rule  of  our  cities  by  outsiders,  if  we  do  not  believe  in  electoral  methods 
that  prevent  or  dissipate  responsibility  to  the  people  for  the  conduct  of 
government  we  must  mend  our  bad  habit  of  not  paying  any  or  paying 
scarcely  any  attention  to  public  matters,  and  put  a  portion  of  our  business 
acumen  and  common  sense  into  fairly  and  squarely  facing  the  facts  and 
then  applying  the  proper  remedies  [applause] — that  is,  unless  you  prefer 
the  comfort  of  bad  habits  to  the  blessings  of  good  government.  [Applause.] 

The  Toastmaster:  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  Do  you  think  that  office 
boy  exaggerated  the  percentage  of  his  salary  which  he  received  in  good 
advice?  The  mayor  has  requested  me  to  ask  you  to  remain  after  Mr. 
Foulke  shall  have  finished  his  address  for  a  moment,  as  he  has  an  announce- 
ment which  he  desires  to  make,  which  he  intended  making  before. 

You  remember  the  revised  version  of  "Mother,  may  I  go  out  to  swim?" 
is  now  translated  "Mother,  may  I  go  out  to  fiy?  "Yes,  my  darling  daugh- 
ter, but  if  you  should  drop  from  above  the  clouds,  come  down  shipshape 
sort-a. " 

Now  in  the  fields  above  the  clouds  to  which  the  next  speaker  will  take 
you,  you  need  have  no  fear  whatever  you  will  not  come  down  right. 
[Applause.]    The  subject  of  his  address  is  "  The  True  Measure  of  a  City's 

Excellence."  Does  not  the  mere  mention  of  the 
The  Measure  title  cause  a  thrill?  A  city's  excellence!  How  many 
of  a  Citv's  there  who  would  not  be  anxious  to  speak  of  their 

■'  city's  excellence.    How  many  are  there  who  are  not 

Excellence  desirous  of  speaking  of  "my  city"  with  the  same 

sentiment  that  they  speak  of  "my  home,"  "my 
family!"  You  will  have  the  pleasure  of  listening  to  the  Honorable 
William  Dudley  Foulke  of  Richmond,  who  will  speak  to  you  upon  the 
"True  Measure  of  a  City's  Excellence."  [Applause.] 

Mr.  Foulke:  Mr.  Toastmaster,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  I  can  assure 
you  you  will  come  down  safely.  You  will  not  go  up  high  enough  to  be 
in  any  danger  from  the  fall.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  understood  from  the 
reports  I  saw  in  the  paper,  that  you  were  opposed  to  the  granting  of 
perpetual  franchises.  Yet  when  I  heard  you  this  evening  in  the  speech 
in  which  you  told  us  what  had  been  the  progress  of  reform  through 
reformers  in  the  past  from  the  days  of  the  prophet  Daniel  down  to  the 
present  time  and  that  it  was  going  to  keep  on  and  on  until  all  good  things 
were  accomplished,  I  felt  very  sure  that  you  were  willing  to  grant  a  per- 
petual franchise  to  the  Daniels  of  reform.  I  am  sure  that  all  these  Daniels, 
both  of  the  masculine  and  the  feminine  sex, who  are  present  here  must 
have  felt  a  little  astonished  when  you  referred  to  the  den  of  lions  and 
must  have  wondered  whether  the  city  in  which  you  have  been  a  good 


WILLIAM  DUDLEY  FOULKE 


463 


deal  more,  sir,  than  the  presiding  spirit  could  have  been  regarded  as  a 
den  of  lions  for  reformers.  [Laughter].  Is  that  what  you  would  have 
us  believe  that  Pittsburgh  is? 

Mayor  Guthrie:  No  personal  application. 

Mr.  Foulke:  But  I  feel  very  sure  that  in  such  a  den  as  that  the  poor 
lions  would  not  have  anything  for  supper.  Certainly  the  fact  that  we  are 
all  called  upon  for  after-dinner  speeches  shows  that  their  repast  has  been 
incomplete. 

Mr.  Toastmaster,  you  spoke  of  the  three  stages  of  reform.  The  first, 
where  the  ideal  was  set  forth,  the  next  where  the  appeal  was  made  to 
sentiment,  and  the  third  where  it  was  embodied  in  practical  form.  I 
believe  I  belong  to  the  primary  class  and  I  rather  think  what  I  shall  say 
tonight  should  have  been  said  at  the  beginning,  perhaps  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  week,  because  I  have  nothing  to  say  except  what  should  be 
ideal  for  the  government  of  a  city. 

When  statesmen  from  the  legislature  or  eminent  members  of  civic  and 
commercial  organizations  visit  our  various  cities,  committees  represent- 
ing the  local  pride  of  the  community  take  them  to  see  "the  sights,"  the 
wonderful  manufactories  with  output  unequaled  in  the  world;  tremen- 
dous structures  towering  twenty,  thirty,  forty  stories  high  above  the 
narrow  canyons  below  that  still  go  by  the  name  of  streets;  huge  masses 
of  public  buildings,  some  of  them  perhaps  almost  as  ugly  as  the  mansards 
and  monstrosities  of  the  "late  Hayes  and  early  Garfield  period, "  extensive 
parks,  electric  light  plants,  water  works  and  all  the  other  marks  of  modem 
"progress."  The  statistics  of  wealth  and  population  are  brought  out  to 
show  the  immense  growth  of  a  decade  of  prosperity.  The  city  is  assumed 
to  be  great  because  it  is  big  in  men,  money,  and  buildings  and  is  constantly 
becoming  bigger.  Its  excellence  is  gauged  by  its  physical  size  and  strength 
by  its  "thews  and  bulk"  without  reference  to  the  question  whether 

"As  this  temple  waxes 
The  inward  service  of  the  mind  and  soul 
Grows  wide  withal." 

Is  this  material  growth  the  real  measure  of  a  city's  excellence? 

In  this  as  in  other  things,  we  need  perspective  to  decide  aright.  We  can 
not  measure  the  altitude  of  a  mountain  if  we  stand  immediately  at  the 

foot  of  the  ascent.  It  is  only  from  a  distance,  as  we 
The  Need  of  perceive  its  outlines  against  the  sky  and  its  relations 
p  ..  to  other  objects  that  we  can  estimate  its  real  height 

^  and  character,  and  tell  whether  or  not  it  is  indeed  a 

prince  among  its  fellows.  So  it  is  with  cities,  and  we 
need  here  not  only  the  perspective  of  distance  but  the  perspective  of 
time  and  history.  Let  us  then  go  back  beyond  our  own  generation  and 
century,  and  consider  which  have  been  in  the  past  the  really  great  cities 


464 


DINNER  SPEECHES 


of  the  world  and  why  they  have  been  so,  and  we  shall  learn,  in  the  first 
place,  that  it  is  not  mere  size  nor  population  nor  wealth,  nor  splendor 
which  constitutes  true  greatness.  For  neither  Babylon,  nor  Carthage, 
nor  Novgorod,  nor  Byzantiuni  with  all  the  huge  circuit  of  its  walls  were 
really  great  in  the  same  sense  as  Athens,  Sparta,  Jerusalem,  Rome, 
Florence.  Who  can  even  remember  the  capitals  of  the  great  empires 
of  Alexander  or  Genghis  Khan  or  Tamerlane  ?  Whatever  temporary  glory 
is  conferred  by  mere  population,  wealth  or  power  may  well  perish  with 
the  era  and  the  civilization  which  produced  it.  With  a  city  as  with  a 
man  it  is  only  the  soul  which  is  immortal.  It  is  true  indeed  that  this 
spiritual  greatness  may  be  embodied  in  physical  form  as  in  the  Parthenon 
of  Athens  and  in  the  masterpieces  of  Giotto  and  Michael-Angelo  in 
Florence.  But  sometimes,  as  in  the  case  of  Sparta,  there  are  no  physical 
remains  at  all  to  testify  to  the  glory  of  the  indomitable  spirit,  and  some- 
times all  that  the  artist  and  artificer  have  done  is  less  than,  the  memory 
of  its  splendid  intellectual  and  literary  achievements. 

Socrates,  Pericles,  Sophocles,  ^schylus,  Demosthenes,  Dante,  Petrarch 
— these  names  made  of  Athens  and  Florence  greater  cities  than  even  their 
superb  works  of  art.  Athens  and  Florence  had  indeed  one  advantage 
over  any  modern  municipality.  The  city  itself  was  supreme.  There 
was  no  higher  sovereignty  to  withdraw  any  part  of  the  civic  pride  of  their 

inhabitants.  All  the  patriotism  of  the  Athenian  was 
The  Spiritual  given  to  Athens,  all  the  love  of  the  Florentine  to 
Elements  of  Florence.  There  was  no  Greek  or  Italian  nation  to 
a  City  which  were  due  a  more  binding   allegiance  and  a 

deeper  affection.  But  the  fact  is  none  the  less  true 
today,  than  in  any  previous  epoch  of  the  world,  that  it  is  the  spiritual 
elements  of  a  city — its  intellectual  and  artistic  qualities,  as  with  Athens 
and  Florence,  its  moral  qualities,  as  with  Sparta — which  constitute  its 
real  claim  of  distinction.  When  measured  by  this  standard,  how  will  the 
great  commercial  or  governmental  cities  of  Europe  stand  today?  What 
will  be  the  place  of  Liverpool  and  Birmingham,  Glasgow,  Barcelona  and 
Marseilles,  Madrid,  Berlin  and  St.  Petersburg  by  the  side  of  these  historic 
cities  of  the  past.  Even  in  Paris,  the  beautiful  and  wonderful,  the 
climax  of  its  beauty  and  interest  is  the  embodiment  of  the  great  thought 
of  mediaeval  times  in  the  stones  of  Notre  Dame.  I  was  there  during  one 
of  the  great  expositions  and  after  inspecting  all  that  modem  progress  could 
do  in  this  most  dazzling  city  I  betook  myself,  day  after  day,  to  Notre 
Dame,  and  contemplating  that  superb  incarnation  of  the  religious  thought 
of  the  Middle  Ages  I  said  to  myself,  "this  is  the  crown  of  all. "  A  city  is 
really  great  only  when  some  great  thought  has  dwelt  within  its  walls. 
Its  highest  excellence  is  shown  in  the  development  of  the  manhood  of 
its  citizens — the  development  of  character.  [Applause.] 

Clean  streets  and  good  drainage  are  valuable,  but  only  because  they 
make  men  healthier  and  happier  and  give  the  mind  and  soul  a  fuller  and 


WILLIAM  DUDLEY  FOULKE  465 

better  development.  Splendid  edifices,  statues  and  paintings  are  valuable, 
but  only  because  they  promote  the  appreciation  and  enjoyment  of  beauty. 
A  city  is  made  for  its  citizens,  not  the  citizens  for  the  city.  Municipal 
corruption  is  very  bad,  but  its  worst  feature  is,  not  that  it  wastes  money, 
but  that  it  degrades  the  conscience  of  the  citizens.  There  are  no  higher 
functions  of  municipal,  as  well  as  of  national  government,  than  to  stimu- 
late endeavor,  to  develop  character  and  promote  individual  happiness. 
Judged  by  this  standard,  our  historic  Boston  and  our  conservative  Phila- 
delphia may  really  be  greater  than  our  colossal  New  York  or  our  most 
progressive  Chicago.  Greater  thoughts  were  bom  there,  greater  men  have 
dwelt  there  and  greater  deeds  have  been  performed  within  their  precincts. 

In  this  age  of  materialism  and  in  this  land  of  ours  which  unhappily  is 
the  most  materialistic  of  all,  and  in  this  city  of  Pittsburgh,  which  repre- 
sents perhaps  the  acme  of  our  material  progress,  is  it  not  time  to  hark 
back  again  to  spiritual  things  and  to  remind  ourselves  that  all  that  is 
material  is  merely  the  basis  or  the  accessory  of  that  which  is  not  mate- 
rial at  all? 

Professor  Lamprecht,  when  he  visited  the  St.  Louis  exposition,  told  us 
that  America  had  indeed  a  high  civilization,  but  a  scanty  culture.  Some 
of  us  were  disposed  to  resent  this  criticism,  yet  it  is  the  truth.  Germany 
has  no  buildings  that  are  forty  stories  high,  she  will  not  tolerate  them — 
but  she  has  the  great  works  of  Mommsen,  his  Corpus  Inscriptionum  and 
his  Roman  History  unequaled  in  the  scholarship  of  the  world.  We  have 
had  in  America  great  inventors  and  discoverers,  but  they  are  inventors 
and  discoverers  of  material  things.  We  have  had  our  Fulton  and  Morse 
and  Howe  and  Bell  and  Edison,  but  of  spiritual  discoverers  in  the  realms 
of  philosophy  and  science,  of  great  masters  in  the  domain  of  literature  we 
have  had  but  few,  and  as  yet  no  names  like  those  of  Shakespeare  and 
Milton,  Dante  and  Goethe,  Charles  Darwin  and  Herbert  Spencer.  Even 
little  Norway  had,  in  Ibsen,  a  dramatist  whom  America  never  equaled 
or  approached.  It  is  to  this  side  of  American  life,  a  side  which  is  still 
defective,  that  our  energies  should  now  be  chiefly  bent. 

Let  me  repeat,  that  the  most  excellent  city  is  not  the  one  which  contains 
the  greatest  wealth,  population  or  splendor,  but  it  is  the  city  which  has 
thought  the  greatest  thoughts,  which  has  performed  the  most  glorious 
deeds,  which  represents  the  noblest  character. 

But  the  thought  may  perish,  or  the  deed  may  be  forgotten  if  it  be  not 
recorded  in  indestructible  form.  Let  us  then  see  to  it  that  the  record  of 
what  our  citizens  have  done  is  commensurate  with  the  deed  recorded. 
Carthage  lives  but  little  in  history  because  there  is  not  a  line  extant  from 
the  pen  of  a  Carthaginian,  and  her  record  has  been  written  by  her  foes 
and  her  conquerors. 

If  then  you  would  have  your  city  permanently  renowned,  cherish  your 
own  distinguished  men  and  the  things  they  have  performed.  Let  their 
names  not  perish  from  among  you.    Commemorate  them  in  bronze,  on 


466 


DINNER  SPEECHES 


canvas,  and  in  story,  and  more  than  this,  afEord  them  the  amplest  oppor- 
tunities to  commemorate  themselves. 

Perhaps  among  you  there  may  be  found  some  author,  statesman,  poet, 
sculptor,  painter,  architect,  inventor  who  may  thus  create  for  your  city 
what  shall  be  in  future  times  its  proudest  claim  to  immortality.  See  to 
it  that  those  men  have  recognition  now,  while  they  still  live.  It  did 
little  good  to  Columbus  for  posterity  to  rear  statues  to  his  memory  while 
his  contemporaries  loaded  him  with  chains.  Cherish  these  men  while 
they  are  still  among  you  and  give  them  places  of  honor  in  the  grateful 
hearts  of  their  fellow-citizens.  Let  jealousy,  envy,  rivalry  and  bicker- 
ing be  forgotten.  Cherish  them,  not  because  you  may  approve  of  all 
they  say  and  do,  but  because  they  are  yours  and  because  their  words  and 
deeds  may  do  more  to  promote  the  real  eminence  of  your  community 
than  the  tallest  building  or  the  most  productive  manufactory  in  the 
world.    [Great  applause.] 

Mayor  Guthrie  :  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:    Those  of  you  who  belong  to 
Pittsburgh  and  those  who  are  our  guests  here  I  think 
Pittsburg  will  join  with  me  in  gratification  at  the  knowledge 

Civic  that  the  lessons  which  we  have  received  during  this 

Commission  week  will  not  be  fruitless.  It  has  already  been  ar- 
ranged that  a  commission  will  be  appointed  to  take 
charge  and  make  history  and  remove  from  existence  many  and  perhaps 
all  evils  which  have  been  pointed  out  to  us  by  our  kindly  friends.  It 
gives  me  great  pleasure  to  announce  to  you  that  our  fellow  citizen,  Mr. 
H.  D.  W.  English,  has  consented  to  act  as  chairman  of  the  commission 
which  has  been  appointed.  [Great  applause.]  Mr.  English,  I  think 
that  the  sentiment  which  has  been  displayed  is  a  proper  appreciation  of 
your  self-sacrifice  in  undertaking  this  great  and  beneficent  work.  Good 
night.  [Applause.] 

The  meeting  then  ad  ourned. 


COMMITTEES  OF  THE  NATIONAL 
MUNICIPAL  LEAGUE. 


Advisory  Committee 

Eliot  Watrous,  Chairman,  New  Haven,  Conn. 
Laurence  Minot,  Good  Government  Association,  Boston. 
President  Harry  A.  Garfield,  Williams  College,  Williamstown,  Mass. 
Rear  Admiral  F.  E.  Chadwick,  Newport,  Rhode  Island. 
Horace  D.  Taft,  Watertown,  Conn. 
F.  J.  Kingsbury,  Jr.,  Bridgeport,  Conn. 

Clarence  H.  Kelsey,  Pres.,  Guarantee  Title  and  Trust  Co.,  New  York. 
Charles  W.  McCandless,  New  York  City. 
George  McAneny,  President,  City  Club,  New  York. 
Robert  W.  DeForest,  7  Washington  Square,  New  York. 
Hon.  Thomas  M.  Osborne,  Public  Utilities  Commission  No.  2,  Au- 
burn, New  York. 
Harry  B.  French,  Philadelphia. 
Hon.  J.  Benjamin  Dimmick,  Mayor,  Scranton,  Pa. 
Hon.  Vance  C.  McCormick,  Harrisburg,  Pa. 

Rev.  Adolph  Roeder,  President,  New   Jersey  Civic  Federation, 

Orange,  N.  J. 
Alden  Freeman,  East  Orange,  N.  J. 
J.  M.  Lawford,  Baltimore. 

Charles  Morris  Howard,  Equitable  Building,  Baltimore. 
Hon.  H.  B.  F.  MacFarland,  President,  District  Commissioners,  Wash- 
ington. 

Hon.  L.  G.  Powers,  Census  Bureau,  Washington,  D.  C. 

John  Stewart  Bryan,  The  Times-Dispatch,  Richmond,  Va. 

A.  B.  Andrews,  Jr.,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

Thomas  F.  Parker,  Greenville,  S.  C. 

Hon.  J.  M.  Barr,  City  Solicitor,  Jacksonville,  Florida. 

Hon.  L.  E.  Holden,  The  Plaindealer,  Cleveland. 

Dr.  E.  W.  Bemis,  City  Hall,  Cleveland. 

Prof.  Augustus  R.  Hatton,  Western  Reserve  University,  Cleveland. 
A.  J.  Freiberg,  Cincinnati. 

Hon.  Henry  T.  Hunt,  District  Attorney,  Cincinnati. 
Charles  Carroll  Brown,  Indianapolis. 

(467) 


468        NATIONAL  MUNICIPAL  LEAGUE  COMMITTEES 


Prof.  William  A.  Rawles,  Bloomington,  Ind. 
Dr.  Graham  Taylor,  The  Commons,  Chicago. 
Anthony  Pratt,  Secretary,  Detroit  Municipal  League. 
Prof.  John  A.  FairUe,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 

Joseph  McC.  Bell,  Secretary,  Municipal  Voters  League,  Milwaukee. 
Stiles  P.  Jones,  Secretary,  Municipal  Voters  League,  Minneapolis. 
W.  S.  McCormick,  Comptroller,  Duluth,  Minn. 

Hon.  John  MacVicar,  Secretary,  League  of  American  Municipalities, 

Commissioner  of  Des  Moines. 
Dr.  Mayo  Fesler,  Secretary,  Civic  League,  St.  Louis. 
A.  O.  Harrison,  Kansas  City. 
Percy  N.  Booth,  Louisville.  Ky. 
Lafon  Allen,  Louisville,  Ky. 
Hon.  James  M.  Head,  Nashville,  Tenn. 
Hon.  James  H.  Malone,  Mayor,  Memphis,  Tenn. 
Hon.  George  B.  Ward,  Mayor,  Birmingham,  Alabama. 
Major  C.  R.  Breckenridge,  Ft.  Smith,  Ark. 
George  B.  Brown,  Secretary,  Board  of  Trade,  Little  Rock,  Ark. 
J.  Pemberton  Baldwin,  New  Orleans,  La. 
Hon.  G.  W.  Breckenridge,  San  Antonio,  Texas. 
Hon.  William  Scallon,  Butte,  Montana. 
Hon.  B.  B.  Lindsey,  Judge  of  County  Court,  Denver. 
Hon.  Harry  B.  Henderson,  State  Comptroller,  Cheyenne. 
Rev.  W.  G.  Eliot,  Jr.,  Portland,  Oregon. 
Joseph  N.  Teal,  Portland,  Oregon. 
Fairfax  H.  Whelan,  San  Francisco. 

Committee  on  Coordination  of  University  and  Collegiate  Instruc- 
tion IN  Municipal  Government 

Prof.  W.  B.  Munro,  Chairman,  Harvard  University,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Dr.  W.  B.  Bailey,  Yale  University,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Prof.  R.  C.  Brooks,  University  of  Cincinnati,  Cincinnati. 

Prof.  John  A.  FairUe,  University  of  Michigan,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 

Pres.  Harry  A.  Garfield,  Williams  College,  Williamstown,  Mass, 

Prof.  J.  W.  Gamer,  University  of  Illinois,  Urbana,  111. 

Prof.  Frank  J.  Goodnow,  Columbia  University,  New  York  City. 

Prof.  Jeremiah  W.  Jenks,  Cornell  University,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Prof.  Isidor  Loeb,  University  of  Missouri,  Columbia,  Mo. 

Prof.  C.  E.  Merriam,  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 

Prof.  Samuel  Peterson,  University  of  Texas,  Austin  Tex. 

Prof.  L.  S.  Rowe.  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia. 

Prof.  W.  A.  Schaper,  University  of  Minnesota,  Miim. 

Prof.  S.  E.  Sparling,  University  of  Wisconsin,  Madison,  Wis. 


NATIONAL  MUNICIPAL  LEAGUE  COMMITTEES 


469 


Committee  on  Instruction  in  Municipal  Government  in  Elementary 
Schools 

Prof.  James  J.  Sheppard,  155  West  6sth  Street,  New  York  City. 

Dr.  George  Groat,  i66th  Street  and  Boston  Road,  Bronx,  N.  Y. 

Dr.  Frederick  L.  Luqueer,  86  Marlborough  Road,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

George  H.  Martin,  Board  of  Education,  Boston,  Mass. 

Dr.  M.  J.  O'Shea,  District  Superintendent,  New  York  City. 

Prof.  John  L.  Tildsley,  High  School  of  Commerce,  New  York  City. 

Dr.  Frank  V.  Thompson,  South  Boston  High  School. 

Auxiliary  Committee  of  Women 

Mrs.  George  Lung,  Chairman,  Navy  Yard,  Brooklyn. 

Mrs.  Richard  Aldrich,  19  E.  26th  St.,  New  York. 

Miss  Georgia  A.  Bacon,  39  Dean  St.,  Worcester,  Mass. 

Mrs.  Charles  J.  Bonaparte,  601  Park  Ave.,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Mrs.  George  Bumham,  Jr.,  214  N.  34th  Street,  Philadelphia. 

Miss  Mary  A.  Bumham,  3401  Powelton  Ave.,  Philadelphia. 

Miss  Mary  A.  Converse,  1610  Locust  St.,  Philadelphia. 

Mrs.  Horace  E.  Deming,  New  York  City. 

Mrs.  William  M.  Ellicott,  Roland  Park,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Miss  Elizabeth  Foster,  Boston,  Mass. 

Miss  Catherine  Leverich,  New  York  City. 

Mrs.  Matthew  D.  Mann,  37  Allen  St.,  Bufifalo,  N.  Y. 

Mrs.  Frederick  Nathan,  162  W.  86th  St.,  New  York  City. 

Miss  Marion  C.  Nichols,  Boston,  Mass. 

Mrs.  Imogen  B.  Oakley,  The  Gladstone,  Philadelphia. 

Mrs.  Sumner  B.  Pearmain,  368  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Mrs.  Charles  Richardson,  1307  Spruce  St.,  Philadelphia. 

Mrs.  Grace  M.  Stephenson,  Austin,  Tex. 

Miss  Emily  B.  van  Amringe,  48  East  26th  St.,  New  York  City. 
Mrs.  Lovell  White,  Mill  Valley,  Cal. 

Mrs.  Clinton  Rogers  Woodruff,  2219  Spruce  St.,  Philadelphia. 

Committee  on  Municipal  Health  and  Sanitation 

Dr.  Alexander  C.  Abbott,  Chairman,  Philadelphia. 

M.  N.  Baker,  C.E.,  Montclair,  N.  J. 

George  Bumham,  Jr.,  Philadelphia. 

Homer  Folks,  New  York  City. 

Prof.  Irving  Fisher,  Yale  University. 

Dr.  George  A.  Soper,  New  York  City. 

Clinton  Rogers  Woodruff,  ex-officio,  Philadelphia. 


470        NATIONAL  MUNICIPAL  LEAGUE  COMMITTEES 


Committee  on  Municipal  Accounting  Volume 

Horace  E.  Deming,  Chairman,  New  York  City. 
Dr.  Frederick  A.  Cleveland,  New  York  City. 
ClLiiton  Rogers  Woodrufif,  Philadelphia. 

Committee  on  City  Clubs 

George  McAneny,  Chairman,  55  West  44th  Street,  New  York  City. 
George  Bumham,  Jr.,  Philadelphia. 
William  C.  Culkins,  Cincinnati. 
Hon.  Morton  D.  Hvill,  Chicago. 
William  Yotmgsman,  Boston. 

Committee  o.v  Electoral  Reform 

Horace  E.  Deming,  Chairman,  1 1  William  St.,  New  York  City. 

Charles  C.  Binney,  Philadelphia. 

Richard  H.  Dana,  Cambridge. 

Stiles  P.  Jones,  Minneapolis. 

Hon.  John  C.  Rose,  Baltimore. 

Dr.  Samuel  A.  Sparling,  Madison. 

Thomas  Raebum  White,  Philadelphia. 

Clinton  Rogers  WoodruflF,  Philadelphia. 

Committee  ok  City  Finances  and  Budgets 

George  Bumham,  Jr.,  Chairman,  President,  City  Club,  Philadelphia. 
Howard  C.  Beck,  former  City  Controller,  Detroit. 
Harvey  S.  Chase,  Boston. 

Dr.  Frederick  A,  Cleveland,  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research,  New  York. 

Horace  E.  Deming,  New  York  City. 

Prof.  John  A.  Fairlie,  University  of  Michigan. 

Prof.  Frank  J.  Goodnow,  Columbia  University. 

Hon.  J.  K.  Player,  City  Controller,  St.  Louis. 

Hon.  L.  G.  Powers,  Census  Bureau,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Clinton  Rogers  Woodruff,  Philadelphia. 

For  Executr'.'e  Committee  of  1908— 1909  see  page  43. 


INDEX 


Abatement  of  Nuisances,  383 
Abbott,  Dr.  Alexander  C,  8,  9,  18, 
19 

Accomplished  Results,  444 
Accounts,  212,  260,  329 
Accounts  as  a  Measure  of  Efficiency, 
329 

Accounts,  Franchises  and,  212 
Activity  of  Corporations  in  Politics, 
119 

Administrative  Areas,  395 

Administrative  Centralization,  208 

Advisory  Committee,  467 

Advisory  System,  226,  230 

j^Isthetics  of  Public  Health,  9 

Aldermen's  Courts,  398 

Allegheny,  401 

Allen,  PhiHp  Loring,  48 

Allen,  Dr.  William  H.,  122,  127 

Almy,  Frederick,  43 

American  Cities  Contrasted  Euro- 
pean and,  217 

American  Cities,  the  Initiative,  the 
Referendum  and  the  Recall  in — 
Robert  Treat  Paine,  Jr.,  223 

American  Civic  Association,  i,  6, 
85,  448. 

American  Municipalities,  League 
of,  162 

American    Municipal  Tendencies, 
Clinton  Rogers  Woodruff,  8, 145 
American  Political  Science  Associa- 
tion, 355 
American  Town  Planning,  36 
America,  Water  Powers  of,  453 
Analysis  of  Auditor's  Balance  Sheet, 
342 

Analytical  Accounts,  329 

Antiquated  Aldermen's  Courts,  398 

Anti-toxin,  385 

Appeal  to  Courts,  262 

Appendix,  136 

Appointive  Judges,  52 

Assets  and  Liabilities,  Current,  343 

Atlantic  City,  113 

Atterbury,  Grosvenor,  24,  404 

Auxiliary  Committee  of  Women,  469 


Bad  City  Government  —  Some 
Causes  of  —  and  Their  Remedies 
— Horace  E.  Deming,  455 

Bailey,  Prof.  W.  B.,  352 

Baker,  M.  N.,  13,  19,  20,  43,  378 

Balance  Sheet,  340 

Balance  Sheet,  Analysis  of  Audi- 
tor's, 342 

Baldwin  Prize,  45 

Baldwin,  William  H.,  45 

Ballot,  Liberty  of  the,  371 

Baltimore,  339 

Baltimore's  Library,  315 

Baltimore  Tax  Commission,  315, 
339 

Bancroft,  William  P.,  43 
Bangor,  Me.,  434 
Banquet,  444 
Baxter,  tames  Phinney,  43 
Bemis,  Dr.  E.  W.,  90,  176 
Berlin,  37 

Better  City  Government,  Militant 

Political  Work  for,  86 
Binkerd,  Robert  S.,  85,  110,  113 
Birmingham,  191 

Board  of  Health  Work  Should  be 

Health  Protective,  14 
Boards  of  Health,  Work  of,  George 

A.  Soper,  Ph.D.,  378 
Bonaparte,  Hon.  Charles  J.,  43,  85, 

122,  137 
Boocock,  F.  R.,  116 
Boston,  116,  148,  186,  353 
Boston  Finance  Commission,  154, 
^  157 

Boston,  StefFens  and,  148 
Bothering  Councils,  76 
Brainerd,  Erastus,  44 
Brewing,  Economic  Importance  of, 
427 

Bryce,  Hon.  James,  122,  169 

Bryce's  Dictum,  122 

Budget,  124,  339 

Budget,  Importance  of  the,  124, 

Buffalo,  85,  86,  89 

Buffalo  Experiences,  89 

Bureau  of  Insurance,  256 


(471) 


472 


INDEX 


Bureau  of  Municipal  Research,  135, 

152,  157,  313 
Bureau  of  the  Census  as  an  Agent 

of  Municipal  Reform,  Hon.  Le- 

Grand  Powers,  328 
Bums,  John,  Message  from,  411 
Bumham,  George,  Jr.,  41, 43,173,  96 
Business   Bodies   and   the  Civic 

Awakening,  145 
Business   Bodies — Functions  of — 

in  Improving  Civic  Conditions, 

H.  D.  W.  English,  73,  413 
Business  Corporations,  Experience 

of,  219 

Business  Investment,  City  Library 
as  a.  Dr.  Charles  McCarthy,  317 
Business  Men,  Influence  of,  414 
Business  Side  of  Government,  458 
Butler,  John  A.,  43,  loi 

Cadbury,  George,  39 

California  Cities,  Progress  in,  236 

Campbell,  H.  C,  144 

Canada,  49,  52,  229 

Canadian  Differences  of  Opinion,  49 

Canadian  Local  Option,  49 

Canadian  Outlook,  52 

Candidates,  Work  Carried  Out  by 

Our,  118 
Capitalization,  2  8  2 
Causes  of  Misrule,  457 
Causey,  James  H.,  43 
Changes   in   Modem  Accounting, 

334 

Chapin,  Dr.  Charles  V.,  378 
Charter  Making  Tendencies,  162 
Charter  Tendencies  in  Recent  Years, 

Prof.  John  A.  Fairlie,  129,  204 
Charters,  Initiativeand  Referendum 

Through,  234 
Chase,  Harvey  S.,  43,  122,  337 
Chicago,  74,  97,  161,  183,  195,  391 

398,  429,  440,  441 
Chicago's  Anomalous  Condition,  184 
Chicago  City  Club,  133 
Chicago's  Street  Car  Experience,  74 
Child  Hygiene,  125 
Cincinnati,  76,  98,  193 
Cincinnati  Municipal  Party,  98 
Citizens  Union  of  N.  Y.,  97 
City  Clubs,  Committee  on,  470 
City's  Excellence,  Measure  of  a,  462 
City  Finances  and  Budgets,  Com- 
mittee on,  470 
City  Government,   Liquor  Traffic 
and,  Prof.  Augustus  Raymond 
Hatton,  421 


City  Government,  Organization  of, 
207 

City  Library  as  a  Business  Invest- 
ment, Dr.  Charles  McCarthy,  317 
City  Life,  Complexity  of,  150 
City  Party  Movement,  95,  96 
City  Problems,  the  Great  Problems, 
309 

City,  Spiritual  Elements  of,  464 

Civic  Awakening — Business  Bodies 
and— 145 

Civic  Betterment,  Sentiment  for,  2 

Civic  Exhibit,  133 

Civic  Responsibilities  of  Democ- 
racy in  an  Industrial  District, 
Paul  U.  Kellogg,  24,  392 

Civic  Traitors,  376 

Civic  Work,  Retro- Active  Influence 
of,  419 

Civil  Service  Reform,  104 

Classification,  328 

Clearing  House,  Commission  as  a, 
263 

Cleveland,  176,  401,  429 

Colby  Movement,  119 

Colby's-Everett-Fight,  190 

Cole,  George  E.,  97 

Commercial  Organizations — Diffi- 
culties in  Way  of,  73 

Commission  as  a  Clearing  House, 
263 

Commission,  Government  by,  269 
Commission  Government  Charters, 
242 

Commissions,  Consolidation  of  the, 

303  „^ 

Commissions,  What  They  Have 
Done,  283 

Committee  of  Fifty,  69,  423 

Committees  of  the  National  Muni- 
cipal League,  467 

Committee  on  City  Clubs,  470 

Committee  on  City  Finances  and 
Budgets,  470 

Committee  on  Coordination  of 
University  and  Collegiate  In- 
struction in  Municipal  Govem- 
ment,  468 

Committee  on  Electoral  Reform, 
470 

Committee  on  Instruction  in  Mu- 
nicipal Government  in  Elemen- 
tary Schools,  469 

Committee  on  Municipal  Account- 
ing Volume,  470 

Committee  on  Municipal  Health 
and  Sanitation,  469 


INDEX 


473 


Committee  Work,  48 
Common  Law,  141 
Common  School  System,  396 
Communicable  Diseases,  383, 
Comparative  Data,  Value  of,  321 
Complexity,  311 
Complexity  of  City  Life,  150 
Compulsion,  Forms  of,  138 
Concentration  of  Power  and  Re- 
sponsibility, 164 
Congestion   and  the    Stature  of 

Children,  27 
Congestion, Liberty, Equalityand,  29 
Conservation  Commission,  National, 

Consolidation  of  the  Commissions, 

Contmuous  Inspection,  35 
Control  of  Public  Utilities,  Dr.  B. 

H.  Meyer,  131 
Control  of  the  Brewery,  63 
Cooperation,  28 

Cooperation  by  Doing  Things,  416 
Cooperation  of  Officials,  126 
Coordination,  449 
Corporate  Franchise  Tax,  300 
Corporations  in  Politics,  Activity 
of,  119 

Corruption — Saloon  an  Agent  of,  56 
Corruption,  Wholesale,  81 
Criminal  Law  as  a  Means  to  Enforce 

the  People's  Will — Hon.  Charles 

J.  Bonaparte,  137 
Criminal  Law,  Problems  of,  140 
Cuba,  163 

Cultivate  the  Democratic  Spirit,  93 
Current  Assets  and  Liabilities,  343 


Davis,  Dwight,  F.,  44,  109 
Debauchery  of  Human  Character, 
81 

DeForest,  Charles  S.,  43 

DeForest,  Robert  W.,  22, 
Demand  for  Shelter,  402 
Deming,  Horace E.,  5, 40,  43, 44,  455 
Democracy  and  Free  Time,  410 
Democracy  Needs  the  Best  Tools, 
A,  222 

Democratic  Election  Machinery, 
^  173 

Democratic  Spirit,  Cultivate  the,  93 
Denver,  78,  200 

Denver's  Referendum  and  Initia- 
tive, 79 

Department  of  Housing  and  Labor, 
253 

Des  Moines,  115,  165,  199  ,243 


Detroit,  86,  227 

Development  of  Reform  Sentiment, 
103 

Devine,  Dr.  Edward  T.,  33 

Difficulties  in  Way  of  Commercial 
Organizations,  73 

Difficulties  of  Impartial  Considera- 
tion of  Liquor  Problem,  421 

Difficulties  of  Legislators,  311 

Direct  Legislation,  226 

Direct  Nominations,  113 

Disadvantages  of  the  Voters'  League 
Plan,  III 

Discriminatory  Rates,  266 

Distinction  Between  State  and  City, 

Dresden,  36 

Eastman,  Joseph  B.,  131,  288 
Economic  Homes,  Schemes  for  Ob- 
taining, 28 
Economic   Importance   of  Brew- 
ing, 427 
Edinburgh  Committee,  27 
Education  of  the  Sovereign,  106 
Education  of  the  Workers,  120 
Edwards,  Dr.  J.  S.,  10,  19 
Effect  of  Law  Enforcement,  71 
Effects  Outside  of  the  Municipality, 
119 

Elections,  Expenses,  Publicity  of, 
181 

Electoral  Methods,  Importance  of, 
461 

Electoral  Reform,  Committee  on, 
470 

Electric  Companies,  Gas  and,  281 
Electric  Light  Board,  Gas  and,  297 
Elementary  Schools  —  Committee 
on  Instruction  in  Municipal  Gov- 
ernment in,  469 
Elimination  of  Party  Lines,  96 
Eliot,  President  Charies  W.,  72 
Ely,  W.  Caryl,  180 
English.  H.  D.  W.,  23,  30,  34,  43, 

73,  102,  413 
English  Public  House  Trust,  431 
Equality  and  Congestion,  Liberty, 
29 

Essen,  392 

Essen  and  Its  Great  Working  Force, 

393 

Essen's  Welfare  Work,  394 
European    and    American  Cities 

Contrasted,  217 
Evans,  Dr.  William  A.,  378 
Excise  Department,  55,  58 
Excise  Laws — Liquor  Traffic,  53 


474 


INDEX 


Experience  of  Business  Corpora- 
tions, 219 
Experience  of  Los  Angeles,  239 
Expert  and  Non-Professional  Ovei- 

sight,  221 
Expert  and  the  Overseer,  218 
Extension  of  Sanitary  Functions, 
92 

Factory  Inspection  Headquarters, 
398 

Failure  of  Municipal  Government, 
224 

Fairlie,  Prof.  John  A.,  72,  129,  204, 
357 

Federation  of  Civic  Societies,  104 
Fight  for  Pure  Milk,  319 
Fisher,  Walter,  L.,  43,  97,  133 
Fisk,  Mayor  Charles,  59 
Flack,  Dr.  Horace  E.,  121,  308,  317 
Folly    of     Multiplying  Elective 

Offices,  272 
Force  of  Public  Opinion,  304 
Ford,  Prof.  Henry  Jones,  356 
Foresight  Demanded,  452 
Forms  of  Compulsion,  138 
Foulke,  Hon.  William  Dudley,  462 
Fox,  Hugh  F.,  69 
Franchise  Referendum,  Optional, 

231 

Franchises  and  Accounts,  213 
Franchises,  Valuation  of,  259 
Franchise  Tax,  Corporate,  300 
Freeman,  Alden,  118 
Free  Speech,  Missouri's  Unsuccess- 
ful Assault  on,  146 
Free  Time,  Democracy  and,  410 
Freiberg,  A.  Julius,  66-75,  77>  7^ 
Functional  Accoimting,  124 
Functions  of  Business  Bodies  in 
Improving  Civic  Conditions,  H. 
D.  W.  English,  73,  413 
Funded  Debt,  345 

Galveston,  165 
Gamble  of  Health,  406 
Garfield,  Harry  A.,  in 
Gamer,  Prof.  J.  W.,  356 
Gas  and  Electric  Companies,  281 
Gas  and  Electric  Light  Board,  297 
German  Precedents,  252,  314 
German  Staedtetag,  325 
Gettemy,  Chas.  F.,  157 
Goler,  George  W.  (Dr.),  378 
Good  Government,  Tests  of,  400 
Good  Housing  and  Conservation, 
26 


Goodnow,  Prof.  F.  J.,  355 
Gothenburg  System,  431 
Government  Accountable  to  the 

People,  459 
Government  a  Human  Institution, 

456 

Governmental  Schemes,  28 
Government — Business  Side  of,  458 
Government  by  Commission,  269, 
Grand  Juries,  141 
Grand  Rapids  Charter,  213 
Grand  Rapids  Revival,  149 
Growth  of  Municipal  Home  Rule, 
205 

Guthrie,  Hon.  George  W.,  1,6,23, 

34,  43.  120.  134,  367.  444.  462, 
463,  466 


Hadley,  President  Arthur,  293 
Hapgood,  Norman,  43 
Harmon,  Judge,  100 
Harper,  Clarence  L.,  43 
Hart,  Merwin  K.,  43,  112 
Hart,  Prof.  Albert  Bushnell,  43 
Hartwell,  Frank  N.,  44 
Hatton,  Prof.  Augustus  Raymond, 

49.  53.  70.  III.  421 
Health  Boards,  Relation  of,  to  the 

State,  381 
Health,  Industry  and,  408 
Health  Power  of  the  State,  379 
Health-protective  Work,  National 

Government  in,  15 
Healthy  Environment,   Need  of, 

370 

High  Standards,  Need  of,  369 
Highway  Commission,  298 
Home  Rule,  302 
Home  Rule  Charters,  225 
Home  Rule,  Municipal,  64 
Honest  Elections  Committee,  99 
Honesty  and  Sincerity,  Something 

More  Than,  308 
Horsfall,  T.  C,  35 
Hospital  and  Ambulances,  397 
Housing  and  Labor,  Department 

of,  253 
Housing,  Inspection,  17 
Housing  Problem,  418 
Houston,  James  W.,  70 
Howard,  J.  W.  150 
Howard,  WilUam  Travis,  M.D.,  378 
Hudson,  J.  L.,  43 
Hughes,  Hon.  Charles  E.,  162 
Hughes's   Governor,  Re-Election, 

187 


INDEX 


475 


Hull,  Morton  D.,  43 
Human  Waste  of  Industrial  Acci- 
dents, 407 
Hunt,  Henry  T.,  193 


Ideas'Carriedout'by  Opponents,  118 
Ignorance,  Mistakes  of,  322 
Illinois,  196,  228 
Immigrant  Population,  390 
Imperative  Need  of  Investigation 

of  Liquor  Traffic,  423 
Importance  of  Electoral  Methods, 

461 

Importance  of  the  Budget,  124 
Incidental  Instruction,  352 
Inconsistency    in    Public  Health 

Work,  380 
Increase  of  Receipts  and  Expendi- 
tures, 151 
Indebtedness  and  Property,  346 
Independent  Nominations,  iii 
Indiana,  193 
Indianapolis,  429 

Industrial  Accidents,  Human  Waste 
of,  407 

Industrial  America,  Microcosm  of, 
34 

Industrial  Classes  and  Liquor,  424 
Industrial  District,  Civic  Responsi- 
bilities of  Democracy  in,  Paul  U. 
Kellogg,  24,  392 
Industry  and  Health,  408 
Influence  of  Business  Men,  414 
Information,  Necessity  for,  312 
Information  Succeeding  Vitupera- 
tion, 157 
Ingersoll,  Charles  H.,  43 
Initiative  and  Referendum,  174 
Initiative  and  Referendum  through 

Charters,  234 
Initiative,  the  Referendum  and  the 
Recall  in  American  Cities,  Robert 
Treat  Paine,  Jr.,  223 
Instruction  in  Municipal  Govern- 
ment in  American  Colleges  and 
Universities,  Prof.  Wm.  Bennett 
Munro,  73 
Instruction  in  Municipal  Govern- 
ment in  Elementary  Schools  — 
Committee  on,  469 
Instruction  in  Municipal  Govern- 
ment in  the  Universities  and 
Colleges  of  the  United  States, 
Present  Status  of.  Prof.  William 
Bennett  Munro,  348 
Investigations,  Need  for,  69 


Investments  More  Attractive,  268 
Investment,  The  Municipal  Library 
as  an.  Dr.  Charles  McCarthy,  121 

Johns  Hopkins  University,  357 
Jones,  David  P.,  43 
Juvenile  Delinquency,  33 

Kansas,  434 

Kansas  City,  166,  167 

Kansas  City  Civic  League,  146 

Kansas  City,  Mayor  Beardsley,  199 

Kellogg,  Paul  U.,  23,  24,  26,  392 

Kidder,  Camillus  G.,  107 

Kontz,  Ernest  C,  44 

Laboratories,  385 

Lack  of  Courage,  94 

Lack  of  Definite  Program  in  Deal- 
ing with  Liquor  Problem,  432 

Law  Enforcement,  70,  183 

Law  Enforcement  Varies,  61 

Law's  Delays,  143 

League  of  American  Municipalities, 
162 

Legislative  Bodies,  Reduction  of. 

Legislative  Reference  Bureaus,  160 
Legislators,  Difficulties  of,  311 
Letting  Things  Alone,  273 
Liberty,  Equality  and  Congestion, 
29 

Liberty  of  the  Ballot,  37 1 
Libraries,  Women  and  Cnildren,  318 
Licensing  Vicious  Resorts,  56 
Limited  Franchises,  375 
Limiting  the  Number  of  Saloons, 
57 

Lindsey,  Hon.  Ben.  B.,  7,  53,  78,  83 
Liquor  Fees  and  Taxation,  441 
Liquor,  Industrial  Classes  and,  424 
Liquor  Problem,  Municipal  Affairs 
and  the.  Prof.  Augustus  Ray- 
mond Hatton,  49 
Liquor  Question  Essentially  a  City 

One,  423 
Liquor  Retailer's  Profits,  428 
Liquor  Trade  — Political  Influence 

and  Activity,  426 
Liquor  Traffic  and  City  Govern- 
ment, Prof.  Augustus  Raymond 
Hatton,  421 
Liquor  Traffic,  Excise  Laws,  53 
Liquor  Traffic  —  Imperative  Need 

of  Investigation  of,  423 
Liquor    Traffic  —  Movement  for 
Suppression  of,  431 


476 


INDEX 


Local  Option,  59 

Local  Referendum  and  Initiative 
Authorized  by  State  Law,  232 

Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  202 

Los  Angeles  Charter  Commission, 
202 

Los  Angeles  Model,  234 

Low,  William  G.,  43 

Lowell,  Prof.  A.  Lawrence,  73,  215 

McCarthy,  Dr.  Charles,  121,  309, 
317 

McClellan,  Hon.  George,  164 
McClintock,  Oliver,  43,  132 
McCune,  Henry  L.,  43,  131 
McFarland,  J.  Horace,  i,  43,  85 
Madison,  Wis.,  319 
Maine,  434 

Maltbie,  Dr.  Milo  R.,  212 
Marsh,  Benjamin  C,  13,  16,  136 
Massachusetts,  157 
Massachusetts    Idea,    Joseph  B. 

Eastman,  131 
Massachusetts,     Public  Utilities 
Commissions  of,  Joseph  B.  East- 
man, 288 
Massachusetts'  Progress,  340 
Measure  of  a  City's  Excellence,  462 
Medical  Inspection  of  Children,  17 
Memphis,  192 

Men  of  Patriotism,  Need  for,  450 
Merit  System,  167,  209 
Message  from  John  Bums,  41 
Method  of    Instruction,   No  Ap- 
proach to  Uniformity  in,  353 
Methods    of    Instruction,  Round 

Table  Conference  on,  356 
Methods  of  Legislation,  204 
Meyer,  Dr.  B.  H.,  131,  257,  269 
Michigan  and  Oklahoma,  212 
Michigan's  New  Constitution,  206 
Microcosm  of  Industrial  America, 
34 

Militant  and  Non-Militant  Work, 
86 

Militant  Citizens,  but  not  Militant 

Citizenship,  102 
Militant  Political  Work  for  Better 

City  Government,  86 
Mills,  Rufus,  E.,  122 
Mill  Towns,  405 
Milwaukee,  87,  103,  197 
Minneapolis,  87,  197,  440 


MinneapoUs  and  Buffalo  Experi- 
ences, 89 
Minneapolis    Franchise  Program, 
179 

Minneapolis  Scandal,  159 

Misrule,  Causes  of,  457 

Missouri's  Unsuccessful  Assault  on 

Free  Speech,  146 
Mistakes  of  Ignorance,  322 
Modem  Accounting,  Changes  in, 

334 

Modem  City,  Wall  of  the,  399 
More  Power  for  the  Cities,  372 
Movement  for  Suppression  of  Liq- 
uor Traffic,  431 
Multiplying  Elective  Offices,  Folly 
of,  272 

Municipal  Accounting  as  the  Basis 
for  Publicity  of  Municipal  Affairs, 
Harvey  S.  Chase,  CP. A,  337 

Municipal  Accoimting  Volume, 
Committee  on,  470 

Municipal  Affairs  and  the  Liquor 
Problem — Prof.  Augustus  Ray- 
mond Hatton,  49 

Municipal  Commissions  Inadequate, 
271 

Municipal  Council,  250 
Municipal      Govemment — Perma- 
nent Officers  in — Prof.  A.  Law- 
rence Lowell,  73,  215 
Municipal     Govemment — Present 
Status    of    Instmction    in — ^in 
American  Colleges  and  Univer- 
sities,   Prof.    William  Beimett 
Munro,  73 
Municipal    Govemment,  Signifi- 
cance of,  367 
Municipal  Health  and  Sanitation,  8 
Municipal    Health  and  Sanitation, 

Committee  on,  469 
Municipal  Home  Rule,  64,  163,  205 
Municipal  Instmction  Popular  with 

Students,  352 
Municipal  Library  as  an  Invest- 
ment, Dr.  Charles  McCarthy,  121 
Municipal  Pawn-Shops,  255 
Municipal  Politics,  Saloon  and,  182 
Municipal  Program,  91,  92,  208,  220 
Municipal  Reference  Libraries,  Dr. 

Horace  E.  Flack,  121,  380 
Municipal  Reform,  Bureau  of  the 
Census  as  an  Agent  of,  Hon. 
LeGrand  Powers,  328 


INDEX 


477 


Municipal  Reporting,  Ten  Years  of, 

Hon.  LeGrand  Powers,  122 
Municipal  Research  a  Method,  127 
Municipal   Research,    Bureau  of, 
152.  157 

Municipal  Research  Demands  Facts, 
123 

Municipal  Statistics,  157 
Municipal  Voters  League  Methods, 
75.  87 

Munro,  Prof.  William  Bennett,  73, 
348 

Mtinsterberg,  Prof.,  66,  425 
Murphy,  John  J.,  86,  97 

Nashville,  440 

National    Conservation  Commis- 
sion, 451 
National  Government  in  Health- 
protective  Work,  15 
National  Municipal  League  Com- 
mittees, 467 
Necessity  for  Information,  312 
Need  for  Investigations,  69 
Need  for  Men  of  Patriotism,  450 
Need  of  a  Healthy  Environment, 
370 

Need  of  Educated  Officials,  384 

Need  of  Educating  the  Public,  383 

Need  of  High  Standards,  369 

Need  of  Perspective,  463 

Need  of  Platform,  90 

Nettleford,  John  S.,  37 

Newark,  62 

New  Bedford,  341 

New  Bedford's  Balance  Sheet,  343 

New  Education  League,  105 

New  Haven,  186,  401 

New  Jersey  Excise  Commission,  60 

New  Orleans,  429 

New  Sanitary  Duties,  379 

Newton,  339 

New  York,  53,  54,  187,  429 

New  York  Bureau  of  Municipal 
Research,  135,  400 

New  York  Commission,  178 

New  York  Law,  277 

New  York  Public  Service  Commis- 
sion, Hon.  Thos.  M.  Osborne,  269 

New  York's  Borough  Presidents, 
152 

New  York's  Recount  Bill,  188 
No    Approach   to   Uniformity  in 

Methods  of  Instruction,  353 
Nomination  Reform,  170 


Non-Partisan  City  Government, 
116 

Non-Partisan  Council  Organization, 
75 

Non- Professional    Oversight — Ex- 
pert and,  221 
North  Dakota,  433 
Nuisances,  Abatement  of,  383 

Obedience  to  the  Recommenda- 
tions, 294 

Officeholders,  Political  Activities  of, 
169 

Officials  Converted,  333 
Officials  Convicted  of  Shortcom- 
ings, 331 
Officials,  Co&peration  of,  126 
Ohio,  67,  166 
Ohio  System,  68 
Oklahoma,  Michigan  and,  212 
Old  Charters,  275 
Omaha,  165 
Ontario  System,  51 
Optimism,  455 

Optional   Franchise  Referendum, 

231 

Organization  of  City  Government, 
207 

Orange,  N.  J.,  107 
Ordinance,  What  is  an,  319 
Oregon,  233 
Oregon  Situation,  173 
Osborne,  Hon.  Thomas  M.,  269 
Overseer,  Expert  and  the,  218 

Padded  Lists,  95 

Paine,  Robt.  Treat,  Jr.,  43,  75,  77, 

79,  83,  115,  223 
Partisan  Political  Influences,  210 
Party  Lines,  Elimination  of,  96 
Pendleton  Elliott  Hunt,    43,  86, 

97,  110 

Pennsylvania,  Some  Fundamental 

Municipal  Needs  in,  Hon.  George 

W.  Guthrie,  367 
People,  Who  are  the,  138 
People's  Will,  Criminal  Law  as  a 

Means  to  Enforce,  Hon.  Charles 

J.  Bonaparte,  137 
Permanent  Officers  in  Municipal 

Government,  Prof.  A.  Lawrence 

Lowell,  73,  215 
Perspective,  Need  of,  463 
Peters,  Dr.  John  P.,  53,  69 
Philadelphia,  84,  87,  189 
Philadelphia  and  Cincinnati,  no 


478 


INDEX 


Pinchot,  Hon.  Gifford,  450 
Pittsburgh,  398,  411,429 
Pittsburgh  and  Mayor  Guthrie,  189 
Pittsburgh — a  Typical  City,  39 
Pittsburgh  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
3.  132 

Pittsburgh  Civic  Commission,  466 
Pittsburgh  Civic  Problem,  24,  388 
Pittsburgh  Playground  Assn,  135 
Pittsburgh's  Growth,  Source  of,  388 
Pittsburgh  Survey,  22,  133,  134, 
389.  394 

Pittsburgh's  Typhoid  Fever  Cam- 
paign, 417 

Platform,  I\eed  of  a,  90 

Police  Relation  to  the  Saloon,  59 

Political  Activities  of  Officeholders, 
169 

Political  Coalitions,  88 

Political  Influence  and  Activity  of 
Liquor  Trade,  426 

Political  Operations  of  Govern- 
ment in  Some  Large  American 
City,  Study  of,  46 

Political  Power  of  the  Saloon,  430 

Politics  Necessary,  458 

Portland,  Me.,  434 

Power  and  Responsibihty,  Con- 
centration of,  164 

Powers,  Hon.  LeGrand,  122,  328 

Prentice,  E.  H.,  43 

Present  Status  of  Instruction  in 
Municipal  Government  in  Ameri- 
can Colleges  and  Universities, 
Prof.  William  Bennett  Munro, 

^  73 

Present  Status  of  Instruction  in 
Municipal  Government  in  the 
Universities  and  Colleges  of  the 
United  States — Report  of  the 
Committee  on  the  Coordination 
of  Instruction  in  Municipal 
Government — ^Wilham  Bennett 
Munro,  348 

President's  Interest,  248 

President  Roosevelt  and  Reform, 
100 

President  Roosevelt  and  the  San 

Francisco   Prosecutions,  147 
Princeton  University,  356 
Problems,  City — the  Great  Prob- 
lems, 309 
Problems  of  the  Criminal  Law,  140 
Probst,  Dr.  Charles  O.,  378 
Proceedings,  40 
Program  of  Achievement,  117 
Progress  in  California  Cities,  236 


Project  of  Municipal  Law,  163 
Property,  Indebtedness  and,  346 
Proposed  Governor,  251 
Proprietary  Scheme,  28 
Providence,  132 

Public  Convenience  and  Necessity, 
376 

Publicity  of  Election  Expenses,  181 
PubUcity    of    Municipal  Affairs, 

Municipal    Accounting    as  the 

Basis  for — Harvey  S.  Chase,  C. 

P-  A.,  337 
Public  Employment  Agencies,  354 
Public  Opinion,  Force  of,  304 
Public  Service  Commissions,  New 

York,  Hon.  Thomas  M.  Osborne, 

369 

Public  Service  Corporation  the 
Real  Offender,  53 

Public  Utilities,  175 

Public  Utilities,  Control  of,  131 

Public  Utilities  Commissions  of 
Massachusetts,  Joseph  B.  East- 
man, 288 

Public  Utilities  Law,  Wisconsin, 
Dr.  B.  H.  Meyer,  257 

Pure  Milk.  Fight  for,  319 

Putnam,  George  H.,  43 

Race  of  Reformers,  445 
Railroad  Commission,  292 
Railroad  Court,  296 
Raines  Law,  54 
Raines  Law  Hotels,  53 
Raises  Level  of  Morality,  265 
Rates,  261 

Real  Offender — Public  Service  Cor- 
poration the,  S3 
Reasons  for  Variation,  62 
Recall,  240 

Receipts  and  Expenditures,  In- 
crease of,  151 

Recent  Years,  Charter  Tendencies 
in — Prof.  John  A.  Fairlie,  129, 
204 

Recommendations,  Obedience  to 
the,  294 

Reduction  of  Legislative  Bodies, 
165 

Reference  Libraries,  Municipal,  Dr. 
Horace  E.  Flack,  121,  308 

Referendum  and  Established  Prin- 
ciple, 223 

Referendum  and  Initiative,  Den- 
ver's 79 


INDEX 


479 


Referendum,  Initiative  and,  174 
Referendum,  Speculative  Tests  of 

the,  84 
Reformers,  Race  of,  445 
Reform  in  the  South,  190 
Reform,  President  Roosevelt  and, 

100 

Reform  Sentiment,  Development 
of,  103 

Regulation  of  Liquor  Traffic,  438 
Relation  of  Health  Boards  to  the 

State,  381 
Report  of  the  Committee  on  the 

Coordination  of  Instruction  in 

Municipal    Government,  Prof. 

William  Bennett  Munro,  348 
Requests  for  Help,  47 
Results,  282 

Resolution  of  Thanks,  132 

Results  of  Forty  Years  of  Regula- 
tion, 291 

Results  of  the  League's  Work  45 

Retroactive  Influence  of  Civic 
Work,  419 

Revocable  Franchises,  299 

Reynolds,  James  B.,  72,  121,  247 

Richardson,  Charles,  43 

Richmond,  Va.,  355 

Right  of  Instructions,  229 

Ripper  Bills,  205 

Riverside's  Experiences,  239 

Roberts,  Dr.  Peter,  39 

Round  Table  Conference  on  Meth- 
ods of  Instruction,  356 

Rural  and  Urban  Governments  Con- 
trasted, 216 

Sage  Foundation,  23,  30 
Saint  Paul,  87 

Saloon,  an  Agent  of  Corruption,  56 

Saloon  and  Municipal  Politics,  128 

Saloon  as  a  Factor,  67 

Saloon,  Political  Power  of,  430 

San  Francisco,  201,  429 

San  Francisco  Prosecutions,  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt  and,  147 

Sanitary  Functions,  Extension  of, 
92 

Schemes  for  Obtaining  Economic 

Homes,  28 
Scope  and  Methods  of  Study,  354 
Self-Govemment  Essential,  460 
Sentiment  for  Civic  Betterment,  2 
Service,  262 

Shall  the  People  Rule?  137 
Shortcomings,  Officials  Convicted 
of,  331 


Shortsightedness,  415 
Short  Term  Franchises,  75 
Significance  of  Municipal  Govern- 
ment, 367 
Single  Responsible  Executive,  249 
Sliding  Scale,  306 
Slum  Prevention,  38 
Slum  Reform,  38 
Smoke  Nuisance,  9,  313 
Social  Betterment,  Chicago,  391 
Some  Causes  of  Bad  City  Gov- 
ernment and  Their  Remedies, 
Horace  E.  Deming,  455 
Some     Fundamental  Municipal 
Needs   in   Pennsylvania,  Hon. 
George  W.  Guthrie,  367 
Something  More  Than  Honesty  and 

Sincerity,  308 
Socialist  Party,  105 
Socialist  Vote,  105 
Soper,  Dr.  George  A.,  8,  9,  378 
Soper's,  Dr.,  Summing  Up,  18 
Source  of  Pittsburgh's  Growth,  388 
South,  Reform  in  the,  190 
Sovereign,  Education  of  the,  106 
Spectacular  Campaigns  Ineffective, 
12 

Speculative  Tests  of  the  Referen- 
dum, 84 
Spence,  F.  S.,  49 
Spiritual  Elements  of  a  City,  464 
Spreckles,  Rudolph,  147 
State  and  City  Referenda,  77 
State  Party  Affiliation,  90 
State  Prohibition  of  Liquor  Traffic, 
433 

State  Regulation,  274 

Steffens  and  Boston,  148 

Steffens  Lincoln,  97 

Staedtetag,  314 

Streets,  Width  of,  37 

Strength  of  Liquor  Trade,  429 

Strong,  Thomas  N.,  43 

Study  Efficiency,  93 

Study  of  the  Practical  Operation 

of  Government  in  Some  Large 

American  City,  46 
Study,  Scope  and  Methods  of,  354 
Symmes,  Frank  J.,  44 


Task  of  the  Teacher,  349 
Taxation,  Liquor  Fees  and,  441 
Taxpayers'  Hearing,  124 
Taxpayers'  Referendum,  79 
Taylor,  Prof.  Graham,  31,  74 
Teacher,  Task  of  the,  349 


48o 


INDEX 


Temporary     Expedient,  Voters 

League  a,  loi 
Ten  Years  of  Uniform  Muncipal 

Reporting,  Hon.  LeGrand  Powers, 

122 

Tests  of  Good  Govenmient,  400 
Tibbets,  Dudley,  43 
Toledo,  88 

Toronto  Situation,  51 

Town  Planning,  24 

Trades  League  of  Philadelphia,  73 

Treasurer's  Report,  41 

Two  Kinds  of  Research,  128 

Typhoid  Fever,  400 

Uniform  Accounting,  158 
Uniform  Accounts,  213 
Uniformity,   No  Approach  to,  in 

Methods  of  Instruction,  353 
Unimportant  Complaints,  286 
University  and  Collegiate  Instruc- 
tion in  Municipal  Government, 
Committee  on,  468 
University  of  Chicago,  352 
University  of  Havana,  354 
University  of  Illinois,  356 
University  of  Michigan,  357 
Unsanitary  Dwellings,  403 
Urban  Government  Contrasted, 

Urban  and,  216 
Utilities  out  of  Politics,  264 

Valuation,  258 

Valuation  of  Franchises,  259 
Value  of  Comparative  Data,  321 
Vermont,  437 
Vital  Statistics,  382 
Voters  League  a  Temporary  Ex- 
pedient, 1 01 
Voters  League  Plan,  Disadvantages 

of,  III 


Wall  of  the  Modem  City,  399 
Washington,  401 
Washington  an  Expression,  247 
Washington  Situation,  James  B. 

Reynolds,  121,  247 
Water  Powers  of  America,  453 
Weil,  A.  Leo,  83,  447 
What  is  an  Ordinance?  319 
What  the  Commissions  Have  Done, 

283 

White,  Thomas  Raebum,  43 
Whitlock,  Hon.  Brand,  309,  317 
Who  are  the  People?  138 
Wholesale  Corruption,  81 
Width  of  Streets,  37 
Willard,  Charles  D.,  44 
Williams  College,  353 
Willoughby,  Prof.  W.  W.,  357 
Wilmington,  230 
Wilmington's  Accounts,  160 
Wing,  Frank  E.,  23 
Winston,  John  C,  94,  132 
Wisconsin,  303 

Wisconsin   Public   Utilities  Law, 

Dr.  B.  H.  Meyer,  257 
Woodruff,  Clinton  Rogers,  7  ,8,  43 

72,  73,  85,  103,  122,  145 
Woods,  Robert  A.,  23,  24,  388 
Woodward,  Dr.  William  Creighton, 

378 

Work  Carried  Out  by  Our  Candi- 
dates, 118 

Workingman's  Home  and  Waste, 
25 

Work  of  Boards  of  Health,  George 
A.  Soper,  Ph.D.,  New  York  City, 
378 


Yale  University,  352 


1012  01131  0515 


